
Class ^Tl^O 
Book , 11 fc 



&0?5 



I 

ON 

REGENERATION. 



IN TEN SERMONS. 



^( 



ON THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS 



I. The Character of the Un- S VIIT. The various Methods in 
regenerate. ^ which thofe lafluences op-* 

n. III. The Nature of Regen- S ^^^^^* 

eration. S IX. DIreaions to awakened 

IV. V. VI. The Necefllty and \ Sinners. 

Importance of it. S X. An Addrefs to the Rcgen« 

VII. The Divine Influences nee- J[ crate. 

cfTary to produce it. 

BY P. DODDRIDGE, D.D. 



TO WHICH ARE ABDED, 

TWO SERMONS, 

ON THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION BY 
GRACE THROUGH FAITH. 



THE THIRD AMERICAN EDITION. 



BOSTON : 
PRINTED BY E. LINCOLN, WATER-STREBT. 



MAY, 1803. 



~BT^^^'^ 



\^0 D 



PREFACE. 



IT IS undoubtedly the duty of every wife and good 
man to be forming fchemes for the fervice of God 
and his fellow-creatures m future years, if he be contm- 
ued to them ; and It will be his prudence to do it 
early in life, that he may be gradually preparing to 
execute them in the mod advantageous manner he 
can. But while a man's heart is thus devlfmg his ^ay^ 
the Lord dlreaeth h'lspps. And as many fuch fchemes 
will probably be left unfiniflied at death, which will 
quickly come to break oiF onr purpofes and the 
thoughts of our hearts ; fo It is not improbable that 
they who humbly and obediently follow the leadings 
of Divine Providence and grace, may often find 
themfelves called out on a fudden to fer^ces which, 
but a little before, were quite unthought of by 
them . 

This has been the cafe with me in mod of the Ser- 
mons I have pubHfhed, of which very few were com- 
pofed with any view to the prefs ; and it is moil re- 
markably fo with refped to thefe on Regeneration. 
Befides many other excellent perfons, my much hon- 
oured friend, Dr. Wright, has handled the fabject in 
fo judicious and lively a manner, and through the 
great goodnefs of God to us, fo many thoufands of 
his treatife upon it are difperfed in all parts of our 
land, that I could hardly have believed any one who 
had told me I Ihould thus have refumed it ; nor had 
I the leaft intention of doing it, when I began that 
courfe of Leclures which I now offer to my reader's 
perufaL 



^^ fREIACE* 

I did indeed think it neceffary lafl year to treat the 
fubjeft more largely than I had ever done before^ 
knowing in the general how important it is, and ob- 
ferving that feveral controverfies had about that time 
been raifed concerning it, which (though I do not 
judge it necefiliry to mention the particulars of them). 
I vv^as ready to fear, might have had an ill influence 
to unfettle m.en's minds, and either to lead them into 
feme particular errors, or into a general apprehenfion 
that it was a mere point of fpeculation, about which 
it was not n^ceiTary to form any judgment at all.* 

That thefe difcourfes might be more generally ufe^ 
ful, 1 determined to preach them on Lord's-day even- 
iRgs, that thofe of my neighbours who were not my 
dated hearers might, if they thought proper, have an 
opportunity oi attending them : and accordingly they 
were attended to the laft with tmcommon diligence j 
a great '^my fach perfons, ef different perfuafions 
and communions, making up a part of the auditory* 
As pradlical in(tru(5lion and improvement was the 
main thing I had in view, I knew it w^as neceffary ta 
make my difcourfes as plain, as free, and as ferious as 
I could. But before I had iinilhed. near half of my 
fcheme, feveral of my hearei^s earneftiy requefted that 
the fermons might be publifhed ; and the requefh 
grew more extenfive and importunate every w^eek, 
with this additional circumftance, (which I much re- 
garded) that fome very pious and judicious friends at 
a diftance, being providentially brought to the hear- 
ing of fome of thefe lectures, ftrongly concurred in 
th;2 defire ; expredlng a very cheerful hope, that the 

* See Mr. H^rbden'^ Appendix to his late Difcourfe on Rege:«- 

IRATION. 



JP^EFJCE. V 

reading of what they had heard might be ufeful in 
diftant parts of the land, to which they afTfired me 
tliey would endeavour to fpread them as opportiui-y 
might offer. As the advice of feveral of my bretb cii 
in the miniftry w^as joined with all this, I thou^, i", 
myfelf bound in duty at length to comply ; wi^.c h I 
was the rather encouraged to do from the feveral lii- 
ftances in which I had reafon to believe the divine 
bleffing had in fome meafure attended thefe fermons 
from the pulpit, and had made them the means of 
producing and advancing the change they defcribed 
and enforced. 

On thefe confiderations, as foon as I returned from 
that long journey on which I fet out the day after 
thefe ledures were concluded, I applied myfelf to rec- 
olle<5l the fubftance of them as well as I could, from 
the fhort hints I had written of them, with the affift- 
ance of thofe notes which fome of my friends had ta- 
ken after me in charaders. Some things are, perhaps, 
omitted, though I believe but very few ; fome con- 
traded, and fome enlarged ; but my hearers will 
find them in the main what they heard. It coft me 
more labour than I was aware, from fuch materials, 
to reduce them into their prefent form ; and I hope 
the multitude of my other bufmefs w^ill be allowed as 
an apology, if I proceeded in them flower than fome 
might exped. 

I fhall leave it to my reader to obferve for himfelf 
the manner and method in wdiich I have handled my 
fubjeft, without giving him a particular view of k 
here ; only mufl beg leave to tell him in the general, 
that I hope he will find I have not prefumed fo far 

Az 



^'1 I'RErACS. 

on the fublmilty of my fubjea:, as to talk without etc- 
terminate ideas ; for which reafon I have omitted ma- 
ny phrafes, ufed particularly of late by fome pious 
and worthy perfons, becaufe I freely own, that as I 
cannot ^nd them in my Bible, fo neither can I under- 
ftand their exacl meaning ^ and it feems very im- 
proper to embarrafs fuch plain Difcourfes as thefe with 
a language, which, not being thoroughly mafter of, I 
may chance to mifapply, fuppefing thofe phrafes to be 
really more proper than I can at prefent apprehend ' 
they are. I have endeavoured to keep to one idea o£. 
Regeneration, which I take to be that which the^ 
Scripture fuggefts : by Regeneration I mean ** a 
prevailing difpofitlon of the foul to univerfal hollnefs, 
produced and cheriilied by the influences of God's 
Spirit on our hearts, operating In a manner fuitable- 
to the conftltuticn of our nature, as rational and ac- 
ccuntabldijkatures.^' If this be (as I think I have 
proved at I^ge that it is) the Scriptural notion of it,. 
it will follow, that nothing which may be found where. 
this is not, or v/hich may not be found where this Is, 
can be P^sgeneration in the Scripture fenfe ; which 
is that fenfe in which we are much more concerned^ 
than we are in that to which any human writers, 
whether ancient or modern, may think proper to ap- 
ply it.. 

If the doiftrine V/hich I have endeavoured in the 
whole courfe of thefe Sermons to confirm and illuf- 
trate by the word of God, be In one form or another 
generally taught by my bretlu'en in the minifiry, of 
\vlMtever denomination, I rejoice in it for tlieir own 
fak^s, as well as for that of the people under their 
care. I am very little inclined to contend about t€ch- 



PREFACE. Vll 

nical phrafes of human Invention, which have with, 
equal frailty been idolized by fome, and anathematiz- 
.ed by others. We ihall, I hope, learn more and more 
to hear one another'^s burthens^ and to ftudy the kindeil 
interpretations which the words of each other will ad- 
mit. But I mud take the liberty to fay, I am in my 
confcience perfuaded that this view of things, which 
is here propofed, though perhaps not very faihionable> 
is in the general fo edifying, and fo naturally leads ta 
the frequent review of many other important doctrines 
of Chriftianity, which are clofely connected with it, 
that I am well fatisfied it will be our wifdom to ad- 
here to it, and to make it very familiar to our ow^n 
minds, and to thofe of our hearers. Nor can I imag- 
me that any variety in the idioms of diiFerent languages, 
or the cuftoms of different ages and nations, can be a fuf- 
ficient reafon for bringing Scripture phrafes into difufe^ 
while we keep to the original ideas fignifieiff by them. 
There feems to be a peculiar felicity in them to exprefs 
Divine truth ; and they will undoubtedly be found the 
fafeft vehicle of religious knowledge, and the fureft band 
of union among Chriftians ; while, however we may dif- 
fer in other matters, we fo generally agree in acknowl- 
edging that our Bibles contain the oracles of our God. 

, Let us, therefore, who under dilFerent denomina- 
tions are honoured with the miniftry of the everlafting 
Gofpel, agree, for a while at leaft, to fufpend our de- 
bates upon lefs necefTary iiibjed-s, that we may, with 
united efforts, concur in profecuting that great defigu 
for which the Gofpel was revealed, the Spirit given^ 
and our office inilituted. And fnice it is fo evident 
that irreligion has grown upon us, v^/hile we have 
been attending to other, and to be fare fmaller mat* 



Vlli PREFACE. 

ters, let us by a plain, ferlous, and zealous waj oiT 
preaching the mod vital trutlis of Chriftianity, jolnect 
with a diligent Inrpe(51:ion of the fouls committed to 
our care, try what can be done towards preventing the 
progrefs of this growing apollacy, and recovering the 
ground we have already loft. Ignorant and preju- 
diced people may perhaps accufe us of bigotry or en- 
thufiafm ; but let us do our bed to convince them of 
their error by the candour of our temper, and the 
prudence of our condadt ; and remember that as 
Chryfoflom excellently fpeaks in thefe lively words, 
** It is a fufficient confolatlon for our labours, and far 
more tlian an equivalent for all, if we may have a- 
teftlmony in our confciences, that we compofe and re- 
gulate our difcourfes in fuch a manner as may be ap-* 
proved by God, in wliofe name we fpeak.'* 

Nortl^ipton., 
Nov, 7, i74i» 



POSTSCRIPT. 



n O what I have fald m the ccnclufion of the nrft 
Sermon concerning the proper import of the word 
Regeneration, I beg leave to add the following re- 
marks, for the farther fatisfadlion of fome worthy per- 
fons, who think it may be convenient to ftate the mat- 
ter a little more particularly. 

I acknowledge that many learned and pious divines 
have taught and contended, that Regeneration does, in 
the ftridefl propriety of fpeech, fignify B^iptism. So 
that no unbaptized perfon, how Vv-ell difpofed foever, 
can properly be faid to be regenerated ; whereas that 
title may juftly be given to all who have been baptized^ 
how deititute foever they might have been of Cliriftiaii 
faith and holinefs when they received the ordinance, or 
how grofsly foever they may fmcc have f^^^ed the fi- 
nal bleffings of a regenerate fcate. Dr. jj^^n^Iand has 
ftated this matter at large in his laboured^BUnngenioiis 
treatife on the fubject, which is the beft I know on this 
fide of the queftion. A.nd though this would be a very 
improper place to enter on a critical examination of 
that piece, I will briciiy touch on the chief argum.ents. 
which he, or others in his fentiments, have urged in vin- 
dication of this favourite iTotion. So far as I can recoi- 
led:, what they lay is capable of being reduced to two 
heads ;- — that Chrijllan antiquity ufes the word in this 
fenfe ; — and that there are pafTages of Scripture which 
authorize fuch an application of it. 

As to the firft of thefe, I readily own that the word 
has this ftrnt in the generality of the Chrillian writers, 
from about the middle of the fecond century, though I 
think not fo univerfally as fome have concluded :* but I 

Clemens xilexandrlnus^ fo often, and to be fure reafonably, quot- 
ed on the other ilde, plainly ufes the word for a change of charaaer 
hy true repentance ; (Strom, lib, il. page 42^ J where, fpeaking of a penl" 
ient harlot^ he fays, "that being born again by converlion, or a change 
i« her temper and behaviour^ flie has the regeneration of lifgo" 



X POSTSCRIPT. 

think It eafy to account for fuch a ufe of it among 
them. For In the earlieft ages of the church, perfons 
were generally baptized as foon as they were converted 
to the cordial belief of Chriftianity ; and therefore the 
time of their ccnverfion, and that of their baptlfm, might 
naturally enough be fpoken of as one : and as this was 
a period when they did, as it were, come into a new 
world, it is no wonder that the action by which they tef- 
tified a change fo lately made, fhould be put for that 
change itfelf, juft as illumination alfo among the ancients 
fignifies baptifm : not to intimate that the grand illumi- 
nation of the mind was made by this rite, or at the time 
of it ; for that would be fuppofmg the perfon in dark- 
nefs when he embraced the Gofpel, and determined to 
be baptized : but becaufe it was taken for granted, and 
that very juftly in thcfe days, that every one favingly 
enlightened would foon be baptized, that fo he might be 
regularly joined to the fociety of enlightened or regene- 
rated perfons, that is, to the Chriftian church : which no 
doubt had tlie befi: right of any body of micn in the world 
to that t^^though in its pureil ftate it contained fome 
ignoranaHftwicked memJoers. In a word, a m,an by bap- 
tifm foleiH^ profefTed himleli a Chriftian ; and as it v/as 
generally the fiifl: evert acl by Vv^hich his believing the 
Gofpel could be publicly and generally known, and was 
alfo fuppofed to be very near the time of his inward 
converfion, they dated his regeneration, that is, his hap- 
py change {as that word ufed to fignify even among the 
heathen*) from that time. We own therefore that thefe^ 
ancient Chriftians (of whom I always think and fpeak 

* It is wdl known that Cicero expreiTcs the happy change raacle 
in his ftate, when reftored from his banifliment, by this word. 
fCrc. ad Attic, lib. vi. Epifi. 6.) The Greeks exprelTed by it the 
dodtrine of the Brachmans, in ^vhich they affirmed our entering 
on a new ilate of being after death. {Clem. Alex. Strom, lib, iii. 
page 451.^ And the Stoicks ufed it to denote their expected rcncv 
vation of the world after fucceflive conflagrations. Marc. Antonin, 
Medit. lib, xi. 5. I. V. 13. X. 7. (See Lucian, Oper. pag. SZ'i^- Bufeh, 
Prap, Evang. ex nuwen. lib. XV. ehap, 1 9. Phili. Jiid de Mnndi Immorf. 
pag. 940, 951. and in many other places.) And fo the fathers of- 
ten ufed to fignify the refurreAion which Chriftians expea. See 
E^'fcb. EccL Hijl. lib. V. chap. I infn. Compare MaiU xix. s8. ;.h4 
the Nste there Earn, E>ipof. FoL II pag. a^8. 



POSTSCRIPT. XI 

With great refpedl) had a very good excufe for this 
Hiethod of fpeaking : but whether they were perfectly 
accurate m this, and whether they did not recede from 
the Scripture ufe of the word, may be matter of farther 
inquiry. 

As to the arguments from Scripture in fupport of the 
interpretation I oppofe, they are taken partly from par- 
ticular places ; but chiefly, as I apprehend, from the 
general tenor of it, in which Chrillians are fpoken of as 
regenerated. 

The particular texts are ^ohn in, 5. and Tit. iii. 5. on 
which much of the flrefs of this controverfy is laid ; biit 
on confidering them attentively, I find nothing in either 
of them to lead ais to think baptifm the regeneration 
ipoken of there. 

As to the former of them, yohn iii. 5. when our Lord 
fays, Except a man be born of <tuater^ and of the Spirit y he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God ; it is (after all the 
contempt with which that interpretation has been treat- 
ed) very poffible he may mean, by a well-known figure, 
to exprefs one idea by both thofe claufes, that is, the pu- 
rifying influences of the Spirit cleanfing the mind, as 
water does the body : as elfewhere, to be baptised <with 
the Holy Ghoji and <withjire (Matt, iii. 11.^ fignifies to be 
baptized by the Spirit operating like fire. But if there 
is indeed a reference to baptifm in thefe words (which I 
own I am much inclined to believe) it will by no means 
follow that ba ptifm is R e g e n e r a x 1 n . On that fuppo- 
fition, I- ftiil think the fenfe of the paffage mud be that 
which I have given in my paraphrafe on it (Fam, Expof 
n)oL 1, pag, 148. y) "Whofoever would become a regu- 
lar member of the kingdom of God, muft not only be 
baptized, but as ever he defires to fhare in its fpiritual 
and eternal bleffings, muft experience the renewing and 
fanaifying influences of the Holy Spirit on his foul, to 
cleanfe it from the power of corruption, and to animate 
and quicken it to a fpiritual and divine life." It is 
granted therefore, that how excellent foever any man's 
chara^er is, he muft be baptized before he can be look- 
ed upon as comjpletely a member of the church of 
Chrift ; and that, in general, being born of the Spirit, ho. 
will alfo be foHcitous that he may be born of water ^ and 



XU POSTSCRIPT. > 

to fulfil all nghteoufnefsn But it will never follow from 
hence, that being horn of luater and horn of the Spirit are 
the fame thing. The text rather imphes they are dif- 
ferent ; and I think every body mufl own, they may be 
actually feparate. Nothing therefore can be more ab- 
furd. than to infer from this text, that if there be two 
perfons, one of which is horn of the Spirit ^ and not of water ; 
another of water ^ and not of the Spirit ; the latter, that 
is, the wicked man, who has perhaps with fome iniquit- 
ous dellgn been baptized,' may properly be faid to be 
regenerated, or born of God, and confequently to be an 
heir of God, fRom. y'iiu ij.J rather than a truly relig- 
ious man, who has not yet been baptized, either through 
want of opportunity, or through fome unhappy miftake, 
as to the nature and defign, or the perpetuity and obli- 
gations of that ordinance. Now this I take to be pre- 
cifely the queftion,' and muft declare that when a baptiz- 
ed perfon is deHitute of true religion, that birth which 
he had by water, feems to me as it were an evanefcent 
thing, or a thing which difappears as unworthy the 
mention ; and that it muft be therefore moft fafe and 
advifeable, as well as moft agreeable to the Scripture 
fenfe, to appropriate the title of regenerate perfons to 
thofe fanctified by Divine grace, rather than to ufe it of 
all who are baptized. 

As to the text in Titus (chap. iii. 5.) where God is 
faid X.O fave us by the ivaflmig of regeneration, or, as fome 
earneftiy contend it fnould be rendered, by the laver of 
regeneration : I might anAver, that as that interpretation 
is by no means neceffury,* it cannot be proved that bap- 
tifm is here defigned, though I acknowledge there may- 
be a graceful alliifion to it: the Apoftle-may mean, we 
are faved by God's wafnng our hearts by his fan<St:ifying 
Spirit (a phrafe fo often ufed in the Old Teftament) and 

* The original is hx xyr^y -aoLWiyy^McCioLt;. Now it is certain, the 
feventy ufe another word, that is, /\yr»f, to fignify Laver, Exod, 
XXX. 18.28. xxxi.9 ; and I think (fb far as I have obferved) every where 
elfe : and Aar^ j-,v (St. Paul's word here) is ufed where it cannot fig- 
nify laver, for the ivatcr in ivh'ubjheep are icajhed. Cant. iv. ^. and for 
a large quantity of ivater in which an adult perfon was ivajhed or Lath' 
ed. Eph. V. 26. And this remark quite overthrows all the argu- 
ment fi^m this text, if any argument would follow from rendering 
it laver : but I think I ncod not urge this. 



POSTSCRIPT. Xlll 

thereby making us his children : and in this fenfe it might 
have been ufed, though baptifm had never been inftitu- 
ted. But granting (as I have done in the beginning of 
the feventh Sermon, pag. 138.) that Avt^ov may be 
rendered laver, and that baptifm may be the laver 
referred to ; and that " there is indeed an allufion 
to the waihing new-born children;" (as Mr. Mede 
in his diatribe on this text contends ;) I think this text 
will be fo far from proving that St. Paul meant to call 
baptifm Regeneration, that it will prove the con- 
trary*: for regeneration itfelf, and the laver of re- 
generation, cannot be the fame thing; and whatever 
TertuUian and other ancients may fancifully talk of our 
bemg generated like fifties in the water, in a w^eak allu- 
fion to the technical word ixqtx, common fenfe will 
fee how abfurd it would be to apply this to a child, and 
will teach us rather to argue, that as children muft be 
born before they can be wafhed, fo they muft be regen- 
erated before the walliing of regeneration .-(that is, the 
wafliing which belongs to their new birth) can be ap- 
plied to them. But on the whole, as wafhing an infant 
refers to its pollution, and no pollution attends our re- 
generation as fuch, I am more and more inclined to 
think there is no reference at all here to a laver, or to 
the waihing new-born children ; and therefore, that this 
wafhing and the renewing of the Holy Ghoft are exeget- 
ical, and that the latter claufe might be rendered, even 
the reneiolng, ^c. which makes the text decifive for the 
fenfe in which I ufe the word. 

After all then, if any argument can be deduced from 
Scripture in favour of the manner of fpeaking now in 
debate, it muft be from the general tenor of it ; accord- 
ing to which it feems that all who are members of the. 
vifible church are fpoken of as regenerate ; from v/hich 
it may be inferred, with fome plaufible probability .at 
lead, that baptifm, by which they are admitted into 
that fociety, may be called Regeneration : and I am 
ready to believe, as I hinted above, that this was the 
chief reafon why the ancients fo often ufed the word in 
the fenfe 1 am now oppofing. 

Now with relation to this, I defire it may be recol- 



XIV POSTSCRIPT. 

k<5led, that wlien Chriftlanity firft appeared in the world, 
it was attended with fuch difcouragements, as made the 
very profeffion of it, in a great meafure, a teft of men's 
diarac^lers. The Apoftles, therefore, knowing the num- 
ber of hypocrites to be comparatively very fmall, gener- 
ally take no notice of them, but addrefs themfelves to 
whole bodies of Chriftians, as if they were truly v/hat 
they profeffed to be. Juft as our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
though he knew the wickednefs of Judas, often addrefTes 
himfelf to the whole body of his Apoftles, as if they 
were all his faithful fervants, and makes gracious cJ^cJa- 
rations and promifes to the whole fociety, which could 
by no means be applicable to this one corrupt and 
wretched member of it ; telling them, for inftance, that 
they JJjould fnare in his final triumph, 3.nd J?t on twelve 
thrones, judging the twehe tribes of IfraeL Mat. xix. 28. 

This is therefore the true key to all thofe paffages in 
which Chriftians are, in the general, faid to be adopted, 
fan^'ijied, jufLtfied, l^c* as well as regenerated. The Apof- 
tles had reafon, in the judgment -of charity, to think thus 
cf by far the greateft part of them:; and therefore they 
ipeak to them all, as in fuch a happy ftate. And agree- 
?vbly to this, we find not only fuch privileges, but alfo 
fuch charadters, afcribed to Chriftians in general, as 
were only applicable to fuch of them as were Chriftians 
indeed. Thus all the Corinthians are fpoken of by the 
Apoftle Paul, as waiting for the coming of our Lord Jefus 
Chrifl, (i Cor. i. 7.) and all the Ephefians, and all the 
Coloflians, as having y^/V,^ in the Lord Jefus Chrifl, and 
love to all the faints, (Eph. i. 15. Col. i. 4.) and all the 
Phiiippians, as having 2. good work begun in them, v;hich 
Paul was perfaaded God would perfect, (Phil. i. 6.) and 
all the Theffalonians, as remarkable for their work of 
fiith, and labour of love, and patience of hope, (i ThefT. i. 
3.) though it evidently appears there were perfons in 
feveral of thefe churches who behaved much amifs, and 
to whom, had he been pai'ticularly addreffing to each cf 
them alone, he could not by any means have ufed fuch 
language. On the like principles Peter, v;hen addreff- 
ing to all rhe Chriftians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Afia, and Bithynia, fpeaks of the whole aggregate of 
them (i Pet. 8.) as loving an unfen Saviour, and amidll 



POSTSCRIPT. XV 

all tlieir tribulations, rejoicing in him with joy tinfpeakahk 
and full of glory ', though probably there were fome weak 
and dejedled Chriftians among them, and undoubtedly 
in fo large an extent of country, in which there were 
fuch a vail: number of churches, not a few, who (as our 
Lord afterwards expreffes it of fome of them) had only a 
name to linjey while they were dead^ Rev. iii. I. in w^hicii 
palTage by the v^ay, our Lord ufes the fame figure, and 
defcribes the whole body by the chara(5ler of thofe who 
made the greater part of it. 

I ftate the matter thus particularly, becaufe 1 think 
this obvious remark is a fufficient anfwer to w^hat is moil 
peculiar and important in a late Difcourfe, confifting of 
near 130 quarto pages, and entitled, A Key to the Apofiolis 
Writings^ ^c, prefixed by the Rev. Mr. Taylor of Nor- 
wich to his late Paraphrafe and Notes on the Romans. 
I think what I have briefly advanced here will mucli 
more effectually anfwer the end of fixing the true fenfe of 
the Scripture phrafes in queftion. And I cannot for- 
bear faying, that to determine the fenfe of the words cdU 
edy redeemed, fanBijied, l^c, when applied to the Chriftiari 
church, by that in v/hich they are ufed in Mofes and the 
prophets with refped to the whole people of Ifrael, feems 
to me as unreafonable, as it would be to maintain, that 
the dimenficns, the ftrength, and the beauty of a body, 
are to be m.oft exadly eftimated by looking on its fliadov/. 

Yet on this evidently weak and miilaken principle, the 
learned and ingenious Author referred to above, ven- 
tures not only to attempt an entire alteration in the gen- 
erally received flrain of theological Difcourfes, but to 
throw out a cenfure, which, confidering its extent and 
Its fe verity, muft either be very terrible, or very pitiable. 
He not only feems to think, if I underfland him right, 
that w^e were all regenerated (if at all) as well as jujl'fied^ 
in thofe of our parents who were firff converted from 
idolatry to Chriftianity (Key, ^. 81, 82. and 246.) as 
indeed he exprefsly fays, " that we are horn in ^ijiipf" 
edy'^ and therefore, undoubtedly (if the word is to 
.be retained) in a regenerate " flate ;" but he pre- 
fume« to fay, that fuch dcxflrlnes as have been almoft 
univerfally taught and received among Chriftians, 
concerning " Jujlificatiouj regeneration^ redemption., tfc. 



XVI POSTSCRIPT* 

have quite taken away the very ground of the Chriftiaiii 
life, the grace of God, and have left no objedl for the 
faith of a finner to work upon.^' {§, 357.) And here- 
upon, left it ihould be forgot, he repeats it in the fame 
fedion, that to reprefent it as " the fubjedl of doubtful 
inquiry, trial, and examination, w^h ether we have an in- 
terejl in Chr'ijl^ whether we are in ajlate of pardon^ whether 
we be adopted^^ (and by confequence, to be fure, whether 
we be regenerated) " is" (as the jintinomians I imagine 
would alfo fay) " to make our jufttfi cation^ as it invefts us 
in thofe bleilings, to be of w^orks, and not by faith 
alone ;" and (as was juft before faid in the fame words) 
'• to take away the very ground of the Chriftian life, the 
grace of God, and to leave no objed for the faith of a 
fmner to ad upon." And this way of dating things, 
which has fo generally prevailed, is joined with the 
wdckednefs and contentions af profeffing Chriftians, as a 
third caufe of that difregard to the Gofpel Vv^hich is fa 
common in the prefent day. 

Now as no book can fall more dlredlly under this cen- 
fure, than this of mine, in which it is the bufmefs of the 
three firft Sermons to dired: profeffing Chriftians in an 
inquiry, whether they be or be not in a regenerate ftate ; 
I thought it not improper, in this Poftfcript, briefly tc^ 
acquaint my reader v/ith the principles on which I con- 
tinue to think the view, in which I have put the matter, 
to be rational and fcriptural,* and do ftill in my ccn- 

* Fcr the full proof of this, that it is the mojl fcriptural fenfi, I 
mufl defire the reader diligently to examinej and ferioufly to con- 
fider, the feveral texts which are quoted in the following Dif- 
courfes ; for it would fwell this Poftfcript too much to enumerate 
them all here, and lo give them a critical examination. Let it 
ilili be remembered, that to be regenerated, and to be bom of God^ 
are equivalent phrafes : And with this remark, let any one that 
can do it paraphrafe all the paffages referred to, in two different 
views ; iirft putting the word baptifm for regeneration, and baptized 
perfons for born of God ; and then fubflituting our definition of re- 
generation or of a regenerate perfon, inftead of the words them- 
fclves : and I cannot but think he will be ftruck with that demon- 
ftration, v/hich will (as it were) emerge of itfelf upon fuch a trial. 
And I rauft add, that if he looks into the context of many »f thefe 
pafTages, he will at the fame time fee how utterly ungrounded it is 
to arfert, as fome have done, " that regeneration is only ufed when 
applied to Jewiih convert* to Chriilianity, referring to their 



POSTSCRIPT. XVU 

fcience judge it far preferable to what the advocates of 
baptifmal regeneration on the one hand, or Mr. Taylor 
on the other, would mtroduce. It feems to me, that the 
points in difpute with him are much more Important 
than our debates with them, as a much greater number 
of Scriptures are concerned, and the whole tenor of our 
miniilerial addreffes would be much more fenfibly af- 
feded. Had I leifure to difcufs the matter more largely 
with this gentleman, I fhould think it might be an im-< 
portant fervice to the Gofpel of Chrift. I hope it will 
be undertaken by fome abler hand ; and Ihall, in the 
mean time, go on pi-eaching and writing in the manner 
fo folemnly condemned, with no apprehenfion from the 
difcharge of all this overloaded artillery, except it be 
what I feel for the zealous engineer himfelf, and a few 
other friends who may chance to ftand nearer him than 
in prudence they ought. 



former birth from Abraham ;" a notion fo fully confuted by our 
Lord*s Difcourfe with Nicodemus, John iii. 3. & fcq. by Tit. iii. 5, 
ind by i Pet. i. 3, 23. ii. z. when compared with i Pet. i. 14. iv. 
3. (which proves that the Apoftle there wrote to focietics, of 
which the greater part had before. been idolatrous Gentiles) thai 
1 think it quite fuperfluous to difcufs it more largely here. 



Northampton, 
June 13, I74J. 



B5 



CONTENTS- 



DISCOURSES ON REGENERATION. 



SERMON L 

Of the Character of the Unregenerate. 

Ephes. ii. I, 2. 

And you hath he quickened, ivho were dead in irefpajfes and 

Jinsy wherein in time pajl ye iv ailed according to the courfe 

of this worlds according to the Prince of the poiver of the airy 

the Spirit that now worketh in the children of difobedience* 

Page 21- 

SERMON II. 

Of the Nature of Regeneration, and particularly of 
the Change it produces in Men's Apprehenfions, 

2 Cor. v. 17. 

If any man be in Chrift, he is ^ new creature : old things are 
pajfed away-i behold^ all things are become new* ^^ 

SERMON III. 

Of the Nature of Regeneration, with refpe(fl to the 
Change it produces in Men's AfFedtions, Refolutions, 
Labours, Enjoyments, and Hopes. 

From the fame Tesct* $6 



COKTENTSt XI2C 

SERMON IV. 

The Necessity of Regeneration argued from the im» 
mutable Conftitution of GOD. 

John iii. 3. 

jfefus anfwersd and /aid unto hlnty Verily ^ ver'dy, I fay unto 
theey Except a man be born againy he cannot fee the kingdom 
of GOD. 77 

SERMON V. 

Of the Incapacity of an Unregenerate Perfon for 
relilhing the Enjoyments of the Heavenly World. 

From the fame Text* 99 

SERMON VI. 

Of the Importance of entering into the Kingdom of 
Heaven. 

From the fame Text* ' 118 

SERMON VII. 

Of the Neceffity of Diyine Influences to produce Re- 
generation in the Soul. 

Titus iii. 5, 6. 

Not hy works of righteoifnefs -which we have done^ but accord'* 
ing to his mercy he faved us, by the wafhing of regeneration 
and renewing of the Holy Ghojl, which he Jhed on us abun* 
dantly through Jefus Chrifl our Saviour. 137 

SERMON VIII. 

Of the Various Methods of the Divine Operation in 
the produdion of this Saving Change. 

I CoR. xii. 6. 
... ' There are diverftties of operatms^ hut \tu the fame GOD 
^hich worketh all in all. 158 



XX CONTENTS* 

SERMON IX. 

Directions to awakened SraNER-S^. 

Acts Ix. 6^ 

j^nJ hey tremlUng and ajlonijhed^ faid^ Lord^ tvhat wilt thou 
have me to do P 1 84. 

SERMON X. 

An Address to the Regenerate, founded on the pre* 
ceding Difcourfes. 

James i. i^. 

Of his own will hegat he us with the word of truth ^ that we 
Jhould be a kind of jirjl-fruits of his creatures. 200 



The Scripture Doftrine of Salvation by Grace 
through Faith* 

SERMON I. 

Ephes. ii. 8. 

For ly grace are ye faved through faith ; and that nei tf 

y ourf elves. ; it is the gift of GOD, 

SERMON IL 

Faith is the Gift of GOD^r 

From the f ami Tffit^r 



^&'^ 



ON 

REGENERATION. 



SERMON L 



OF THE CHARACTER OF THE UNREGENERATE. 



EpHES. II. I, 2. 

And you hath he quichened^ who were dead in trefpaffes and 

Jins / wherein in time pafl ye ivalked according to the courfe 

ef this worlds according to the prince of the pow^r of the 

airy the fpirtt that now worheth in the children of dif 

ohedience. 

AMONG all the various trufts which men can repofe 
in each other, hardly any appears to be more fo- 
iemn and tremendous, than the direcftion of their facred 
time, and efpecially of thofe hours which they fpend in 
the exercife of public devotion. Thefe feafons take up 
fo fmall a part of our lives, when compared with that 
which the labours and recreations of them demand ; 
and fo much depends upon their being managed aright, 
that we, who are called to aflifl you in the employment 
and improvement of them, can hardly be too folicitous, 



22 SERMON 1. 

that we dilcharge the truil, In a manner which we majr 
anfwer to God and to you. If this thought dwell upon 
the mind with due weight, it will have Ibme fenfible in- 
fluence upon our difcourfes to ycu, as well as on the 
drain of thofe addreifes which we prefent to the Throne 
of Grace in your name, and on your account. We fhall 
not be over anxious about the order of words, the ele- 
gance of expreffion, or the little graces of compofition 
or delivery ; but fhall iltidy to fpeak on the moft important 
fubjedls, and to handle them with fuch gravity and feri- 
oufnefs, with fuch folemnity and fpirit, as may, through 
the Divine Bleiling, be mod likely to penetrate the hearts 
of our hearers, to awaken thofe that are entirely uncon- 
cerned about religion, and to animate and aflift thofe, 
who, being already acquainted with it, defire to make 
continual advances, v>'hich will be the cafe of every truly 
good man. 

It is my earned prayer far myfelf, and for my breth- 
ren in the minidry of all denominations, that we may, in 
this refpecl, approve our wifdom and integrity to God, 
and co?7imend aurfehes to the confciences of all men ( I ). It is 
our charge, as we fhall anfwer it another day to the God 
of the fpirits ofallfiefi^ to ufe our prudent and zealous en- 
deavours, to miake men truly w^ife and good, virtuous 
and happy : but to this purpofe, it is by no means fuiK- 
cient to content ourfelves, merely with attempting to re- 
form the immoralities and irregularities of their lives, 
and to bring them to an external behaviour, decent, hon- 
ourable, and u.^eful. An undertaking like this, while 
the inward temper is negle^led, even when it may feem 
mod effetflual, will be but like painting the face of one 
who is ready to die, or labouring to repair a ruinous 
houfe, by plaidering and adorning its walls, while its 
foundations are decayed. There is an awful palTage 
in E^skiel to this purpofe, which I hope we fhall often 
recolledl (2) ; Wo to the foolijlo prophets^ — becaufe they 
have /educed my people, faying, Peace, when there was 

^i) % Ccr, iv. %, {i) Ezek. xiii. ic — 14«^ 



ON REGENteRAtlON. !23 

fto peace ; and one huili up a wall, and lo^ others daubed it with 
untempered mortar : Jay unto them that daub it with untempered 
mortar y that it Jld all fall : — Thus faith the Lord God, I will 
even rent it with 2,Jiorrny wind in my fury : and there flo all be 
an overflowing Jhower in mine anger, and great hailflones in 
my fury to confime it : fo ivill I break down the wall that ye 
have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the 
ground, fo that the foundation thereof JId all be dif covered, and it 
Jfo all fall, and ye fh all be confumed in the midji thereof^ and ye 
jloall know that I am the Lord. 

If there be any, in one bodv of Chrlftians or another, 
that abet men's natural difpofitlon to flatter themfelves 
in a way that is not good, by encouraging them to hope 
for falvation, becaufe they were regularly baptized in 
their infancy ; becaufe they have diligently attended on 
public worlhip, in its eflablifhed, or its feparate forms ; 
or merely becaufe they do nobody any harm, but are 
rather kind and helpful to others ; or becaufe their faith 
is orthodox, their tranfports of aifedion warm, or their 
alTurance confident ; I pray God to awaken them by the 
power of his grace, before they are confumed, with their 
hearers, in the ruins of their deceitful building. Thofe 
of you who are my ftated hearers can witnefs for me, 
that in this refpedl: I have delivered my own foul ( i ). It has 
been the fteady tenor of my dodlrine among you, that 
our hope and confidence muft be in Chrift, and not in 
ourfelves ; and that, if we defire to be interefted in the 
righteoufnefs he has Vv^rought out, and in the bleffings he 
has purchafed by his facred blood, we mud be experi- 
Txientally acquainted with the work of God's renewing 
grace upon our fouls, curing the inward diftempers of 
cur degenerate hearts, and transforming us into the im.- 
age of his holinefs : that is Vv'hat we are taught in Scrip- 
ture to call by the name of RegencrkiiiGn ; and confider- 
ing hov7 much the fubjedl is negleded by feme, and I 
fear I may add, mifreprefented and difguifed by others, 
I apprehend I fhall profitably employ an evening-hour 
for feveral fucceeding Sabbaths, in giving a larger ac- 

(i) Ezck. xxxiii, 9. 



24 SERMON I. 

count than I have yet done, of the fcripture dodrine on 
this important fubjed: and its various parts. It fhall be 
my care in the feries of theie difcourfes, as God fhall 
enable me, to /peak the nvcrds of truth and foheniefs (i) ; 
and I entreat you to have recourfe to the Iwoj and to the 
iejiimony (2), that ye may judge of the truth and weight 
of what I fay. I defire not to be regarded any farther, 
than I produce evidence from reafon and fcripture ; but 
fo far as we are difregarded while we have the concur- 
rent teftimony of both, our hearers muft fee to it ; and 
their danger will then be proportionable to the import- 
ance of thofe truths, which their negligence, or their 
prejudice, engage them either to rejed, or to overlook. 

The plan, on which I intend to proceed in the courfe 
-of thefe Lectures, is this : 

I. I will endeavour to defcribe the character of thofe, 
whom we may properly call perfons in an unregenerate 
ftate. 

II. I will defcribe the nature of that change, w^hich 
may properly be called Regeneration, or Converfion. 

III. I will fliew at large the abfolute necefflty of this 
change, and the confequent mifery of thofe that are 
ftrangers to it. 

IV. I fhall endeavour to prove the reality and neceffi- 
ty of the Divine influences on the mind, in the produc- 
tion of fuch a change. 

V. I iliail defcribe feme of thofe various methods, by 
which God is pleafed to operate in the produdion of this 
holy and important work. 

VI. I fhall propofe fome advices to thofe who are al- 
ready awakened, as to the method in which they are t« 
feek renewing and converting grace. After which, 

(i) Adt5 xivi. %'j, (a) Ifa. viiJ. 2©. 



ON REGENERATION. 25 

VII. I fliall conclude thefe difcoiirfcs with an addrefs 
to thofe who have experienced this happy change <, as to 
the manner in which they ought to be affeded w^th fuch 
a feries of Sermons as this, and the improvement they 
fiiould make of what they are to hear and what they 
have felt agreeable to it. 

I fhould be peculiarly inexcufable, if I entered upon 
flich a fubjedl, without earned and importunate prayers 
to the Fountain of light, grace, and holinefs, that while 
you hear of this important doctrine, you may have that 
experimental knowledge of it, without which fuch dif- 
courfes will indeed feem cbfcure and enthufiailical, ac- 
cording to the degree in which they are rational and 
fpiritual. I fhall only add, that thefe lettures will take 
their rife from a variety of texts y which I fhall not, ac« 
cording to my ufual method, largely open and dilate up- 
on, but only touch on them as fo many mottos to the re- 
fyc6ii\ Q fermo7is to which they are prefixed. 

As I intend not philofophical efaysy but plain, pra(5tlcal, 
and popular addreffes, I Ihall begin, 

Firjiy With defcribing the charaBer of thofe, whom we 
may properly call unconverted and unregenerated perfons. 

It is abfolutely neceffary that 1 fhould do this, that 
you may refpedively know your own perfonal concern 
in what is further to be laid before you in the procefs of 
thefe ledures. 

Now you have the general charader of fuch, in the 
words of my text ; and a very fad one it is : They are 
reprefented, as dead in trefpajfes andfins^ utterly indifpofed 
both for the adions and enjoyments of the fpiritual and 
divine life ; as walking according to the courfe of this worlds 
a fad intimation that it was the flate of the general- 
ity of mankind ; nay, according to the prince of the po'tu- 
er of the air, that impure and wicked fpirit^ who worksy 
or exerts his energy, in the children of dfobedience^ that is, 
in thofe who rejed and defpife the gofpel ; in which it is 
implied, (and a dreadful implication it is) that the 
courfe and condud of thofe, who rejedi: the gofpel, is 
according to the defire and in (ligation oi the prince of darh- 
nefs : they are going on as the devil hirnfelf woulH have 
them, and choofe that patli for themfclves, which he 
C 



26 SERMON I* 

choofss for them, as leading them to moft certain and 
moll aggravated ruin. 

And who are thefe unhappy perfons ? Surely there 
mull be fome of them among us : for who can flatter him- 
felf, that in fo numerous an affembly, the courfe of all is 
different from that of the -world ; and that all have hap- 
pily triumphed over the artifices of that accurfed fpirit, 
who is, by God's righteous permiffion, become its prince y 
while it continues in its apoflate flate ? I ihall however 
think it a very happy point gained, if I could convince 
any of you, who are juilly liable to that convidion, that 
you are the men ; if I could, as it were, render vifible to 
your eyes thofe fubtil, yet flrongly complicated chains, 
in which Satan is binding you, and by which he is draw- 
ing you on to eternal ruin ; that you might recover 
yourf elves out of the fnare of the devil •f ivho are led captive by 
him at Ins pleafure. ( i ) 

I am this evening to defcribe the charaBer of unregener- 
ate men : but I cannot pretend to do it in all the variety 
of circumflances which may attend it. I fhall therefore 
mention only feme particulars which are moil import- 
ant, and which moil certainly demonilrate a perfon to 
be of that wretched number. There are a great variety 
of countenances in the human fpecies ; yet the principal 
features in all are the fame, though their proportion and 
lineaments may differ : and I apprehend, the charaders 
which I am now to lay down, will moil of them fuit ev- 
ery unregenerate perfon, though they may appear in vari- 
ous perfons in different degrees and different inilances. I 
Ihali chiefly lay down thefe characters in negatives, as I ap- 
prehend it is the fafeil way: and would only obferve, what 
you may eafdy imagine, that I fpeak only of the adult ; 
for I would cautioully avoid entangling this Difcourfe 
wHth what relates purely to the cafe of infants, leil Satan 
JJ:ould get an advantage over us, and turn that into an oc- 
cafion to amufe curiofity, which I humbly hope, under 
the influence of the Spirit of God, will be a means of a- 
wakening convidion, and of breaking that delufive peace, 
in whith, like thejirong man armedy he keeps his vaflals, 
tiW the fatal hour come which is to complete their ruin. 

(i) % Tim. ii. z6. 



ON REGENERATION. 27 

To wave die formality of laboured demonftratlons in 
a cafe which admits of fuch eafy evidence, I fhall go up- 
on this obvious principle in the whole of my reafoning : 
" That to be regenerate^ and to be born of God, are in fcrip- 
ture terms of the fame import ; and confequently, that 
whatever temper and difpofition is in fcripture declared to 
be inconjijlent with the charader of a child of God^ mull 
neceffarily denominate a man an unregenerafe perfon,'* 
And one would think this principle could hardly be dif- 
puted, fmce all that allow of regeneration at all, in a 
Chriftian fenfe, feem to underftand by it that change, 
whatever it is, by which a perfon is made a child of God, 
and by confequence an heir of hea^ven* 

Now on this principle, you may take the marks of an 
unregenerate perfon in fuch particulars as thefe ; and let 
thofe, whofe confcience owns them, hear and tremble. 

I . The foul " that never ferloufiy inquired into its 
Spiritual ftate," is, beyond all doubt, an unregenerate foul. 

The Apoftle earneftly prefTes it upon the Chriftians to 
whom he wrote, that they fhould diligently examine 
themf elves whether the^ tvere in the faith (i) : and he who 
has entirely negledled to do it, feem.s to exprefs, not 
merely a forgetfulnefs of religion, but even a contempt 
of it too. Neverthelefs, be it known unto you, Sirs, that 
an humble return to God, and a cordial dedication of 
foul to his fervice, is not fo flight an adl of a man's life, 
that it fhould pafs without any obfervation in doing it, 
or any ferious refie<5^ion on having done it. Religion is a 
deliberate thing ; it brings a man feriouily to confider his 
ways that he m'Siy turn his feet to God^s commandments [2) \ 
to fearch and try them^ that he may turn again unto the 
Lord ( 3 ) . A good man is fo impreffed with the thoughts 
of God, and of eternity, that perhaps he is rather ready 
to be over anxioufly afraid and fufpiclous, in a matter of 
fo great importance : and therefore will review on the 
one hand, the plan of falvation that God has laid down 
in his word, and on the other, the correfpondency to it 
that he may difcover in his own foul ; and if there are any 
of you that have never been thus employed, any that 
have never feparated yourfelves awhile from other em- 

(i) % Cor. xiii. 5. (2) Pfal. cxix. 59. (3) Lam, iii. 40^ 



a 8 SERMON U 

ploymeEts, that you might y^^i anJ Intermeddle nxjith this 
Divine luifdom ( i ), you are afTuredly ftran^ers to it. If 
there are any of you, that have never ftudied God's word, 
to learn his will from thence ; that have never attended 
to fermons, that you might try yomielves by them, and, 
if poffible, carry home fomething of the chief of v;^hat 
you hear, to afiift your retired and more diligent inqui- 
ries ; you may now come to a very quick conclufion, 
and betcre you leave this place, yea, before I proceed to 
any further particulars, you may fet it down as the mem- 
orable beginning of thefe ledures, and of this difcourfe, 
** 1 am already proved to be an unregenerate creature : I 
am In the gall of hitter mfs^ and in the hand of iniquity (2).'* 
Nay, you may add, that there are perhaps thoufands of 
thofe that are unregenerate fmners, who have not been {o 
carelefs and fo infenfible as you. For indeed, Sirs, a 
man may begin an examination, and (tart back from the 
profecution of it, before it is broui^ht to any important 
iiilie ; or trying bimfelf by falfe characrers, he may come. 
to a concluiion, which w^ill be fo much the more danger- 
ous, as it has been the more deliberate. For the fake of 
fuch therefore, I add, 

2. The foul " that is not deeply convinced of its guilt 
before God, and defirous to feek deliverance from it by 
the Lord Jefus Chrift," \s ilill in an unregenerate' ftate. 

All the promifes of God's paternal favour do certain- 
ly imply the promife of forgiven efs ; and you well know, 
that thefe are appropriated to fuch as humble themfelves 
before God: and that humbling v»^hich is merely external, 
and implies no d^t^ fenfe of inward guilt, can pafs for 
very little with that God, ivho fcarches the hearty and tries 
the reins of the children cf men ( 3 ) . 

The Scripture affiires us, that ^jjhrfoe'ver believes that 
Jcfis is the Chr'fl, Is horn of God{:\.) ; and nothing can be 
mere certain from the whole tenor of it, than that he thai 
lelleves no^^ froall he damned{ 5 ) ; and furely a (late of dam* 
nation is not, and cannot be, a ftate of regeneration. But 
v/hat is this faith in Chrift ? Is it no more than a bare no- 
tional perfuafion, that he is the Son of God I If this were all^ 

(i) Prov. xviii. i. (a) Acls vlii, 23. 

(3) Jer. xvii. 10. (4) i John v, i. (5) Mark xvi. x4 



ON REGENERATION. 2g 

the devils themielves beUe've{i) ; and many were the in- 
ftances, in which you know that they confeffed it, and 
trembled before him. You cannot then be ignorant, that 
ihefaithy to which the promifes of falvation are made, is 
?i faith which receives the Lord Jefus Chrtji In all his offices ; 
which trufts his atoneraent^ as well as admits his revelation ; 
and flies to him for righteoufnefs and life. And how can 
that man feek righteoufnefs from ChriJI^ v/ho is infenfible 
of his own guilt ? or how can he depend on him for life^ 
who is not aware that he is under a fentence of death and 
condemnation P 

But imagine not you are fecure, becaufe you acknowl- 
edge yourfelves to be fmners. If that acknowledgement 
be flight and formal, it fliews you are Grangers to the op- 
eration of that Spirit, whofe ofEce it is to convince men of 
Jin{2). . If you have not been made fenfible of the pollu- 
tion of your hearts as well as the rebellion of your lives ; 
if you have not received as it were a fentence of death in 
yourfelves^ and fubmitted to that fentence as righteous, 
though ever fo dreadful ; if you have not been made to 
loath and abhor yourfelves ^ and to repent in duji and ajhes['^) ; 
if you have not laid your hand on your mouth {/\.), and your 
mouth in the dufl[^^^ crying out^ Unclean^ tinclean{6) ; and 
in this fenfe at leaft, adopted that pathetic complaint, 
wretched man that I amy ivhofhall deliver me{']) I it is a cer- 
tain fign, th'sxjin ftill reigns in your mortal bodies {S), and is 
unto this day bringing forth fruit unto death [g), 

3. The foul " that is unconcerned about the favour of 
God, and communion with him," is ftill in an unregen- 
erate ftate. 

Common reafon may tell you, that a foul deititute of 
the love of God, can never be the objedl of his compla" 
cential regards ; and that it is impoffible you fhould love 
him, while you are unconcerned about his favour, and ha- 
bitually indifferent to converfe with him. You believe 
there is a God : you acknov/ledge that he is the great 
benefador of the whole world ; you know your happinefs 
depends upon his favour ; you wiili therefore that you 

(i) Jam. ii. 19-. (%) John xvi. 8. (3) Job xlil. 5. 

(4) Mich.vir. 16. (5) Lara. iii. 29. (6) Lev. xiii. 46. 

(7) Rom. vii. 24. (8) Rom. vi. 12,. (9) Rom. vlL 5, 



C2 



'PP^ 



so SERMON I« 

may enjoy it ; that is, you wlfli, that fome way or oth- 
er you may be happy, rather than miferable. But let 
conic ience fay, whether you have ever felt, that m hir 
favour is life [i) ? whether you have ever known what it 
is to cry out with intenfenefs and ardour of foul, Lord^ 
Vft up the light of thy countenance upon me ( 2 ) ? Alas, Sirs, 
had you been/c^/zj", God would have fent the Spirit of his 
Son into your hearts ( 3 ) ; and if this be not the fmcere, if 
it be not the habitual language of your foul ; if you do 
not thus earneftiy defire to live under the manifeftations 
of the divine love, and to be able to fay, truly our com* 
muni on is ^duUh the Father, and with his Son Jefus Chri/l{^); 
you are fpiritually dead, and under the fatal influences of 
that carnal mind^ which ^ hoAXig enmity againji God {^)^ engag- 
es men to live contented without God in the world (6), fo 
long as their corn and their wine increafe ["]), A heart, 
thus alienated from God, was never favingly turned to 
him, and can have no juft reafon to imagine itfelf the 
objedl of his paternal favour. 

4. Tlie foul " that is deilitute of a fincere love to 
m-ankiud," has reafon to conlider itfelf as in an unregen» 

erate ftate. 

You may, perhaps, thmk it unneceffary to mention' 
this ; but the Apoftle was undoubtedly a much better 
judge, and his own words fuggeft this particular to me i 
Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of God ; and ev- 
ery one that loveth^ is born of God, and hioweth God : he that 
loveth not, hnoweth not God,, and confequently cannot be 
born of him ; for God is love ( 8 ). And our Lord firong- 
jy intimates the fame thought, when he exhorts his dif- 
ciples to the mod univerfal and unlimited benevolence 
by this argument, that ye may he the children of your Father 
'which is in heaven (9) ; plainly implying, that otherv/ife 
they could not really be born of God, or claim him for 
their Father. Regeneration is to form a man for inti- 
mate communion with the general ajfemhly and church of the 
frj} horn (10), and to prepare him for the region of com- 

(i) Pfal. XXX 5. (2) Pfal. iv. 6. (3) Gal. iv. 6. 

(4) I John i. 3. (5) B.om. viii. 7. (6) Eph. ii. 12. 

(7) Pfal. iv. 7. (8) I John iv. 7, 8. (9) Mat. v. 45. 
(10) Hcb. xii, 2 J. 



ON REGENERATION. 3I 

plete and everlafting love ; and the firft fruits of it are 
to appear, and to be manifefted h^ere. It is a faithful fay » 
ingy that they who have believed in God fhould he careful to 
maintain good works ( i ) ; and unfeigned love is to be the 
root of them ; fo that if you cannot ftand thts trial, your 
religious hopes are all delufive and vain* 

Let me entreat you therefore, that you would now 
look into your lives and hearts. Do any of the malignant 
paflions harbour there ? Afk yourfelves, " Is there any of 
my fellow-creatures, whom I wifh to fee miferable ; or 
would make fo, if it were in my power to do it by the fe- 
cret a<5t of my will, fo that no mortal on earth fhould 
ever know me to be the caufe of the calamity V^ If it be 
fo, and this be your fettled temper, you hate your brethren^ 
and are murderers (2) ; and therefore are the children of 
the devily who was a murderer from the beginning ; and we 
may thus fay of you, in the very words of our Lord^ 
who never uttered a rafli cenfure : Tou are of your father 
the devily for his paiGons you cherifh, and his lujls yow 
would do (3). 

But reflect farther, If you wifh others no harm, do you 
really wifh them well ? and that fo really, and fo fmcere- 
\^y as to be ready to do them good ? For merely to fay 
unto themy Depart in peace y be ye warmed and filed (4), 
when you have It in your power to help them, is at once 
to mock the poor y and to defpife him that inade him (5). You 
that are confcious of a mean felfifii temper, and wrap 
yourfelves up, as it were, in your own feparate interefts, 
or in thofe of your own families, and can feel a concern 
for no others ; you that devife what you may imagine 
fhrewd and prudent things, but none that are liberal and 
coippaflionate ; you whofe eye does not affedt your 
heaH,_when you fee the dlftreifes of your brethren, while 
you have this worWs good, how dwelleth the love of God in 
you (6) ? How can you imagine, you are the children of 
him, whom you fo little refemble ? 

Nay, permit me to add once more upon this head, 
that if all your compaffion is only moved by men's tem- 
poral calamities, and works not in any degree with re- 
Ipedt to their fpirltual and eternal intereRs, you have 

(i) Tit. Hi. 8. (a) I John ili. 15. (3) John vili. 44, 

(4) Jam. ii. id, (^) Prov. xvii. j. (6) i John iii. 17, 



o 



2 SERMON I. 



reafon to fear, that It is no better than an unfanaifiedE 
humanity ; and indeed, that you never have learnt the 
worth of your own fouls, while you fet fo little value on 
the fouls of others, even of thofe, to whom you profefs 
and intend friendihip. And this concluding hint is of 
importance to prevent a dangerous miftake, in which 
too many good natured fmners are ready to flatter them- 
felves, and in which, perhaps, others are too ready to 
join in flattering them. 

5. He << that does not know what it is, to ftruggle 
with indwelling fni, and heartily to refolve againft in- 
dulging it in any kind or degree,*' is undoubtedly ftill 

in an unregenerate ftate. 

You will obferve, I do not fay, " that every one who 
knows what it is, to feel a ftruggle in his own mind, 
when affaulted by temptations to fin, is a truly good 
man :" the contrary is dreadfully apparent. A princi- 
ple of natural confcience often makes very ftrong re- 
monftrances againft fm, and fends out bitter cries when 
iubjeded to its violence ; and this is fo far from denom- 
inating a man a real Chriftian, that it rather illuftrates 
the power of fm, and aggravates its guilt. But 
when a man's inclinations run entirely one way, 
and when he gives a fwing to his natural paftions 
without any guard or reftraint : when he is a ftranger 
to any inward conflidl with himfelf, and any vi(5tory over 
his own lufts, and his corrupted will ; it is a certain fign, 
he is yet under the dcminion of Satan, and is even .to be 
numbered among the tame ft of his flaves. For they that 
are Chrtfi^s ha^ve crucified the Jlcjh, ivith the offeB'tons and 
lujls ( J. ) ; have learnt to deny tkernfelves (2), and to mor^ 
tify their members upon the earth ( 3 ) . 

It is alfo of great importance to add, that there mud 
be " a refolution to oppofe fm in every kind, and in eve- 
ry degree ;'* for he that is horn ofGodJtmiethnot (4) ; nay, 
it is elfewhere faid. He cannot commit Jin (5) : and though 
it is too vifibly true in fadl, and apparent from feveral 
other paifages in the very Epiftle whence thefe words are 
taken, that this expreflion is to be interpreted with fome 

(i) Gal. V. 24. (3) Mat. xv]. 24. (3) Col. iii. 5. 

(4; I John V. 18. is) I Jt>hn iii- 9- 



ON REGENERATION. 35 

limitation ; yet the lead that it can be imagined to fig- 
nify is this, that he does not wilfully allow himfelf inthe 
pradlice of any fin. He has learnt to hate every falfe way^ 
and to ejleem all God^s precepts, concerning all thin^s^ to be 
right ( I ) ; fo that upon the whole, If he might have his re* 
quejl^ and God would grant him the thing that he longs for ( 2 ), 
it would be this, to fm no more, and get rid of every 
fentiment, defire, and afFe<5lion, in any degree contrary 
to the purity of God's nature and law. If, therefore, 
there be any of you, that fpare one accurfed thing, though 
you fhould feem eager on deftroying all the reft ; if it be 
the fecret language of your foul, " There is but one luft 
that I will indulge ; there is but one temptation that I 
will comply with ;" I perceive your hearts are not right 
in the fight of God (3) ; for though you could, according 
to your pretended purpofe, keep all the reft of the laiv, 
and yet offend in this one point alone, you would, in effed, 
be a tranfgrejfor of all (4). In fhort. He that committeth fin 
h of the devil (5) ; but i'^ that is begotten of God, keepeih 
himfelf, and that niched one toucheth him not (6). 

6. He " that does not know what it is, to overcome 
this world, and to place his happinefs in another,^^ is yet 
in an unregeneratc ftate. 

This is another of thofe certain marks, which God has 
given us of his own children. Whatfoever is lorn of God^ 
(as it is very emphatically expreffed in the original) 
overcometh the ivorld (7). It is not, you fee^ the extraor- 
dinary attainment of a few more eminent Chriftians ; 
but it is an efTential branch of every good man's charac- 
ter ; for he is begotten again unto a lively hope, by the refur* 
reBlon of jfcfus Chrlfl from the dead, even to the hope oi an 
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away{%). You have reafon, therefore, to judge very 
uncomfortably concerning your ftate, if you are ftrangers 
to this lively hope ; which is a very different thing from 
that hope to befaved, of which fome people talk in fo indo- 
lent, not to fay, in fo profane a manner, as to fhew, that 
it is the hope of the hypocritey which ijoill perijh, when God 

(i) Pfal. cxix. 128. (2) Job vi. 8. (3) Adrs viii, 2t, 

{a) Jam. ii= 10. (5) i John iii, 8. (6) i John v. 18. 

(7) I John V. 4. tar^v TO j'f/svv^y.w.cvo^ m rtf Qjtf, (8) I Pet. i. 3,4* 



34 SERMON I. 

takes aivay his foul (i). If you are confcious to- your- 
felves, that you mind earthly things , yoxxv end v; ill he de^ 
Jlru8ion (2), for \\'^i\\Xi^ your heart on earthy it is plain j^owr 
only treafure is here ( 3 ) : and if you govern yourfelves by 
worldly maxims alone, and your great care be to obtaia 
thofe riches and honours, which the children of the world 
purfue ; if the importance of eternity has never appeared 
in fuch a light, as to make you judge every thing trif- 
ling that can come in competition with it ; nay, whatev- 
er your views of eternity have been, if you are not prac- 
tically carrying on a fcheme for it; and if you cannot, and 
do not, deny your worldly intereft, when it cannot be fe- 
cure^ without hazarding your eternal hopes ; it is plain 
you are friends of the nvorld^ in fuch a fenfe as none can 
be, but he muft be an enemy of God{^). If indeed you 
'zvere dead to the world, and your life hid with Chrifl in God-, 
you "^'OvXdi fet your affedicns on things above, on thofe things 
which are there, where Chrifl fitteth on the right hand of 
God (^) : but the want of this temper fhews, that you 
are carnally minded, which it is death to he [6) ', and that 
the redeeming love of Chrift has never exerted its influ- 
ence upon your fouls, nor his crofs had any due efficacy 
upon you ; for if it had, the world would have been cru^ 
cified to yoUf and you to the world ( 7 ). 

7. The foul "that does not long for greater inlprove- 
ments in the divine life/' is ftill a ftranger to thej^r/? 
principles of it. 

You know, that we are called, as Chriftians, with an 
high and holy calling (8) ; and as he that is the author of 
this calling, is holy,fo are we to be holy in all manner of con^ 
verfation (9), and to he perfe8, even as our Father which is 
In heaven is perfed {10). Here will therefore be room for 
improvement, not only during our continuance in the 
prefent life, but through all the ages of a glorious eter- 
nity ; and it is the ardent defire of every good man, that 
in this fenfe above all others, his path may he like thefhin* 
i^g I'^ght^ thatfhineth more and morcy until the perfect day {11). 

(i) Job viii. 13. xxvii. 8. (2) Phil. iii. 19. (3) Mat, vi. zi. 
<4) Jam. iv. 4. (5) Col. iii. I, 2, 3. (6) Rom. viii. $, 

(7) Gal. vi. 14. (8) Phil. iii. 14. * Tim. i. 9. 

(9) 1 Pet. i. 15. (10) Mat. v. 48. (II) Prov, iv. 18,, 



ON REGENERATION. 35 

And :his is the one thing that he does, or that in which all 
his labours centre ; being confcious to himfelf how far 
he is from having already attained^ or being already perfedy 
forgetting the things that are behind^ he reacheth forth unto thofe 
things that are before^ and prefes totaard the mark, for the 
prize of the high calling of God in Ghrifl Jefus (i). In 
this view he ferioully confiders the circumftances of 
life in which Providence has placed him ; that he may 
obferve the advantages, which thefe circumftances give 
him for religious improvements ; and it is delightful to 
him to difcover fuch advantages. 

Now if there be any of you, who know nothing of 
this temper, you are certainly in an unregenerate ft ate ; 
for none can be born of God, that do not love him ; and 
none can truly love him, that do not earneftly deiire, 
more and more to refemble him. So that if your hearts 
can indulge fuch a thought as this, " I wifh I knew how 
much religion would be juft fufficient to fave me, and I 
would go fo far, and ftop there ;" your confcience muft; 
tell you, that you fecretly hate reiigiouy and are unwilling- 
ly dragged toward the form of it, by an unnatural and 
external violence, the fear of mifery and ruin in negle<5i:- 
ing it ; and that you are not a<fted by the free and liber- 
al principle of a nature favingly renewed. 

8. The foul " that does not know what it is, to live by 
faith in Chrtft^ and in dependence on his Sptrity^^ is ftili 
in an unregenerate ftate. 

We are all the children of Gedy by faith in Chrifl Jefiis 
(2), if indeed we are fo at all ; and he that is joined to the 
Lord, in this fenfe, is onefpirit with him (3). But if any 
man have not the Spirit of Chrifl, he is none of his (4), for as 
God has predefiinated us to the adoption of children, by jfefus 
Chrifl, to himfelf [^), fo of his fulnefs it is, that all believ- 
ers do receive, even grace for grace(^6), or 3X1 dhnxxd'Sinct and 
variety of grace, by virtue of their union with him, who is 
the head : from ivhom the whole body, being fitly joined together^ 
andflrengtheped by ^what every joint fupplies, by an energy pro- 
portionable to every part, increafes to the edifying of if elf in 

(i) Phil. iii. iz — 14, (i) Ga!. ii'u 26. (3) I Cor. vi. 17, 
(4) Rom, viii, 9, (j) Ephef, i. s* (^) J^^^a i« 16. 



36 



SERMOV !• 



love ( I ). Thefe things, as yon fee, are not only hinted 
in Scripture, but are copioufly infilled upon, as very ma- 
terial points ; and though I readily acknowledge, good 
men may apprehend and confider them very differently, 
and may exprefs thofe apprehenfions in different phrafes ; 
yet as experience makes it plain, that thofe fouls gener- 
ally flouriih moft, who have the moil diflin<5l conceptions 
of them, and the moil habitual regard to them ; fo I 
think it is plain from thefe Scriptures, that there can be 
no religion at all, v/here there is a total infenfibility of 
tliem. If, therefore, there are any of you, that appre- 
hend it is enthufiafm to talk of the ajjiftances of the Spirit ; 
nay, I will add, if there are any of you, that do not eam- 
eflly defire thefe afft/lances, and do not feek them daily 
from the hand of Chrift, as the great covenant-head of 
his people ; you are, I fear, ftrangers to fome of thefrfl 
principles of the oracles of God ( 2 y, and are fenfualy not having 
the Spirit ( 3 ). And though you may now and then form 
a hafty, and perhaps a warm refolution in religion, you 
will quickly, w^ith the proud youth that are conceited of 
their own fuificiency, faint and be wsaryy and with the 
young men you <ivill utterly fail ; while they only that wait 
upon the Lord^Jh all renew their fir ength^ fid all mount vp as on 
eagles^ wings, and, preffing on with an unwearied pace, ac- 
cording to the diiferent degrees of vigour w^hich the dif- 
ferent parts of their courfe may require, ^^// run and not 
be weary, and fid all walk and not faint {/\.), In fhort, if 
you do not thi?^ after the water of life, that is, (as the 
Evangelifl himfelf explains it) the fpii-it, which they that 
believe on Chtifi fhall receive ( 5 ) , however bountiful he is, 
he makes no prcmlfe to impart it to you ; and if you nev- 
er receive it, all your other fources of comfort will foon 
be dried up, and the miferable condition of the creature, 
that afked in vain fdr one drop of water to cool his tor-- 
mented tongue (6), v/ill certainly be yours. 

Here I apprehend multitudes will mifcarry, who have 
made afairfhew in the eyes of men ; and if you are con- 
demned by this mark, I am fure you will not be acquit- 
ted by any of die preceding. For all the branches of an 

(i) Ephef' tv. 15, i6. (2) Heb. v. la. (3) Jude, verfe 9. 

(^) Uk. xl. 30, 31. (5) Joha vii. 39^. (6) Luke xvl 'a4' 



ON REGENERATION. 37 

holy temper have fuch a connexion with this, and fuch 
a dependence upon it, that a man, who is deftitute of 
this, can have only the femblance of the reft. 

And thus. Sirs, I have with all plainnefs and faithful- 
nefs, as in the fight of God, and fenfible of my account 
to him, laid before you a variety of hints, by which I 
think you may fafely and truly judge, whether you be, or 
be not, in an unregenerate ftate : and I fnall now beg 
leave to conclude this Difcourfe with one plain inference 
from the whole, 'vi%. 

That haptifm is not regeneration^ in the fcriptural and 
moft important fenfe of the word. 

To prove this as a corollary from the preceding Dif- 
courfe, I fliall only aflume this moft reafonable concef- 
fion, with which you may remember I at firft fet out ; 
*« that regeneration^ and being horn of God^ fignify the fame 
thing." Now I have fhewn you from a variety oi fcrip^ 
tnresy under the former heads, that every one whom the 
Sacred Oracles reprefent as horn of God^ receiveth Chrlfiy 
overcometh the ivorld^ ?:{\A fmneth not. But it is too plain, 
that thefe characters do not agree to every one that is 
baptized : and confequently it evidently follows, that 
every one v^ho is baptized is not of courfe born of God, 
or regenerate ; and therefore, that haptifm is not fcripturs 
regeneration » 

I think no mathematical demonftration plainer, and 
more certain than this conclufion ; and therefore, what- 
ever great and ancient names may be urged on the other 
fide of the queftion, I fhall reft the matter here, v/ithout 
leading you into the niceties of a controverfy fo eafily 
decided. I would only farther obferve, that they vAo 
moft vigoroufly contend for the other manner of f peaking 
(for after all it is but a difpute about a ivcrd) acknowl- 
edge exprefsly, that a man may be faved without what 
they call regeneration^ and that he m.ay perijh with it. And 
though perfons are taught to fpeak of their ftate, in con- 
fequence of baptifm, in very high, and, I fear, dangerous 
terms ; yet when wife and good men come to explain 
thofe terms, it evidently appears, that many of whom 
they are ufed, are fo in a ftate of Mvation as to be daily 
obnoxious to damnation ; fo the children of God, as alfo 
D 



3^ 



SERMON I. 



to be the children of the devil ; and fo inheritors of the 
kingdom of heaven, as to be children of wrath, and on 
the brink of hell. 

Where perfons of real piety apprehend themfelves un- 
der a neceffity of ufing fuch phrafes with refped to all 
that are hapthzedy w^e cannot blame them for endeavour- 
ing to bring down their fignification as low as poffible : 
but they will, I hope, excufe thofe w^ho choofe to fpeak, 
in what they apprehend to be a more fcriptural, rational, 
and edifying language. 

It was matter of confcience with me, to flate the 
matter as you have heard. I do therefore earneftly in- 
treat you, my dearly beloved, in the name of our Lord 
Jefus Chrift, and for the fake of your owai im.mortal 
fouls, that you deceive not your/elves with vain words ; but 
that w^here your eternal falvation is fo plainly concern- 
ed, you bring the caufe, the important caufe, to an im- 
mediate trial : and if you are convinced, as I fuppofe 
many of you quickly may be, that you are at prefent 
dead in trefpajfes and fins , then let me befeech you to re- 
fledl on wdiat the moft tranfient furvey of the Scripture 
may teach you, as to the danger of fuch a cafe. For 
though it will be my bufmefs, in the procefs of thefe 
Difcourfes, more largely to reprefent it, when I come to 
fpeak of the necejjity of the new birth, God only knows, 
whether your lives may be continued, till w^e advance fo 
far in the fubjecl : and where a cafe of tliis kind is in 
quejftion, the delay of a week, or even of a day, may be 
Inevitable and eternal ruin. 



SERMON IL 



€? THE NATURE OF REGENERATION, AND PARTIC 
ULARLY OF THE CHANGE IT PRODUCES 
IN MEN^S APPREHENSIONS. 



2 COR. V. I7» 

JJ any mmi be tn Chrlfly he h a new creature ; old things 
are pajfed away^ behold^ all things are become neiu* 

THE knowledge of our true ftate in religion, is at 
once a matter of fo great impoitance, and fo great 
difHcuity, that, in order to obtain it, it is neceffary we 
fhould have line upon line^ 2,nd precept upon precept. The 
plain Difcourfe, which you heard laft Lord's day, was 
intended to lead you into it ; and I queftion not, but I 
then faid enough to convince many, that they v/ere in an 
unregenerate condition, Neverthelefs, as there are va- 
rious approaches towards regeneration and converfion, 
which on the whole fall fhort of it ; I think it very ex- 
pedient now to give you, what I may properly enough 
call the counter-part of this view ; which I fnall, by Di- 
vine Affiftance, attempt from the words I have now been 
reading. 

The Apoftle, v/ho wrote them, was tranfported to fuch 
a zeal for Chrift, and for the fouls of men, that fome 
thought him befde hirnfelf ( i ) ; and no doubt many 
would reprefent him, as the greateft enthufiaft upon the 
face of the earth. But as it was a ^ery fmall thhig to htm 
t^ be judged of man^ 5 judgment (2), he calmly vindicates 

(i) Verfe ij, {%) i Cor. iv. 5. 



40 SERMON II. 

himfelf, by declaring that there was a canfe for all this 
warmth, as the honcur of God, and the Redeemer, and 
the eternal falvatisn of men, were fo intimately concern- 
ed in the affair : Tl^e love of Chrijl^ fays he, ccnjlrains 
us (i), or, (as the word, ^properly fignifies) it hears us 
a^May <tLHth k, like a mighty torrent, which we are not 
able to reiiit ; hecaufe we thus judge ^ that if vne died for ally 
then were all dcad^ under the fentence of God's righteous 
law, or they would not have needed fuch an atonement 
as tiie blood of his Son ; and we farther judge, that he 
died for alU that ihey who now /;w, only in confequence oi 
his dying loYQ^JhouIdnot henceforth live unto themfelves, hut 
■.nio him that died for them (2). We therefore live to this 
Jefiis ; we ccnfecrate our lives and labours to this pur« 
pofe ; and in confequence of it, we henceforth know no man 
after ihefle/hy that is, we do not regard our tem.poral In- 
terefts, nor connder how we may moft effedually obtain 
the favour and friendiliip of thofe who may be ufeful to 
us in life ; yea^ though we hai^e known Chrijl after thejlefhy 
cr have expeded a temporal Meffiah, who fhould make 
our nation triumphant over the Gentiles, and enrich it 
with the fpoils of other nations, j'^'/ now henceforth we know 
hliii no more under fuch a charader (3). And in this 
refped the fa m.e temper will prevail in the heart of every 
real Chriftian ; and therefore, i. e. in confequence of what 
was faid before of the Redeemer's love, if any man he in 
Chrifly if he be really one of his faithful fervants, united 
to him by a lively faith, and in confequence of that union 
iuterefled in his falvation, he is a new creature : his views 
and fentiments, his affe^ions and purfuits, are fo en- 
tirely changed, that he feems, as it were, to be come into 
a new world, and to be transformed quite into another 
perfon from what he formerly was ; old things are pajfed 
awayy and (hehcld the aftonifhing transformation 1 ) all 
things are hecome new. This is the thought that 1 am 
now to illuflrate ; and you cannot but fee, how proper a 
foundation it will be for our Difcourfe on xht fecond gen* 
era! I prcpofcd, which is, 

Secondly, Particularly to defcrlbe the ;?/^/«/v of that 
great change, which palfes on every foul, that is truly 

(i) 1 Cor. V. 14. (a) 2 Cor. v. 15. (3) Verfe 16. * :E\a^u 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 4I 

regenerate, in the fcriptural, and moft important fenfe of 
the word.^ 

And here it may hardly feem neceffary to tell you, 
that 1 do not mean to affert, that the fubftance of the 
foul, and its natural faculties, are in a flrid: and proper 
fenfe changed ; a man might as reafonably affert from 
fuch a Scripture, that the former body was annihilated, 
and a new one produced ; and common fenfe and de- 
cency will not allow us to imagine, that the Apoftle 
meant any thing of this nature, by the general terms he 
ufes here. But the plain meaning is, that when a man 
becomes a real Chriftian, the whole temper and charader 
of his mind is fo changed, as to become difFe c^t from 
that of the generality of mankind, and differ a c from 
what it formerly was, while in an unenlightepev' and un- 
renewed ftate. It is not merely a little cin-^.i^nftantial 
alteration ; it is not afluming a new name, profiiSng 
new fpeculative opinions, or pradifmg fo) \?v • i*e r 
and forms : but it is becoming, (as we freq. i ^ 

in our ufual forms of fpeech) a diiferent creature, o* : 
new man, — And thus the facred writers exprefs them- 
felves in many other paffages, which very happily ferve 
to iiiuftrate this. They, in particular, reprefent God 
as promifmg, with relation to this work ( i ) ; ^ ne^w heart 
nvUI I give them^ and a neiv fpirit will I put within them ; 
and I will take away the heart ofjlone^ the ftubborn, obfti- 
nate, impenetrable dlfpofition they once had, and will 
give them an heart of Jlejh, a tender, compliant temper, 
which ihall incline them to fubmit to my will with hu- 
mility, and to obey it with delight. And thus, when 
the Apoftle had exhorted the Ephefians (2) to put off ^ 
with refpe8 to their former converfation, the old man^ which 
u corrupt according to its deceitful lufls ; he adds, jind be re* 

* Some choofe to call the change here deferibed, renovation 
?ather than re^sneratlon, \ have given my reafons before (See 
Poflfcript) why I ufe the words proraifcuouily : but I fliall endea- 
vour, through the whole of thefe Difcourfes, fo to ftate the nature 
of this change^ as to have no controverfy with good men of any 
perfuafion about any thing but the name of it ; concerning which, 
1 hope, they will not contend with me, as I am fure 1 will not 
quarrel with them. 

(1) Ezek, xxxvl. '?-6. {%) Ephef. iv. aa— 24* 
D 2 



4Z SERMON II* 

ne^tved tn the fpirit of your mind, and put on the new mah^ 
nvhich after God, or in conformity to his image, is created 
in righteoufncfs and true hoUnefs : which is further illuftrat- 
ed by his important exhortation to the Romans {i)y Be 
not CO? formed to this "world ; hut he ye transformed by the re^ 
neiving of -your mind. And on the fame principles, what 
in one place he calls the neiv creature (2), in another par- 
allel place he exprefTes, by faith that works by love ( 3 ), 
and by keeping the commandments of God (4) ; for all 
thefe, as equivalent chara6ters, he oppofes to circumc'ifion 
and uncircumcifiony or the mere externals of a religious 
profeilion ; declaring the utter infufFiciency of the latter, 
and the abfolute neceffity of the former. 

The general nature of this change may then be imder- 
ftood by an attentive confideration of fuch Scriptures as 
thoic meufeoned above ; which indeed contain what is 
mod e/Ilfntial on this fubjedl. But for the more com^ 
p]ete illuftration of the matter, I fhall particularly fnew 
you, that where there is reafon to fpeak of a man, as one 
of thoie who are in Chrilt Jefus, or who are truly regen- 
erate, there will be " New apprehenfions, new affedicns, 
new refoluticnsj new labours, new enjoyments, and new 
hopes ;" and perhaps there are few important branches 
of the Chriftian charadler, which may not be introduced, 
as illuftrating one or other of thefe remarks. 

The former of them is indeed the foundation of the 
reft \ becaufe, as religion is a reafonahle fervice^ all the 
change which is made in the offeBtcns and refolutions, in 
the piirfuhs^ enjoyments^ and hopes of a good man, arifes 
from that dirTerent view, in which lie is now taught to 
look on thofe objedls, the nature of which is to dired Jiis 
choice, to determine his condud, and regulate his paf- 
fions ; it will therefore be the bufmefs of this evening's 
Difcourfeto fhew you, 

I. That wherever there is a real prin^S||ie of regen- 
eration, there will be new apprehensions of things. 

When God created the natural v^^orld, he faid, in the 
very beginning of his w^ork, l.d ihtre he light, a?id there 
was light (5); and thus he deals in this new creaticn, 

(i) Rom. xii. %, (i) Gal. vi. 15. (3) Gal. v. 6. (4) I Cor. vii, 19. 
M ; Gtii. i, 3^ 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 43 

%vhich ralfes the foul from a chaos, to fuch a beautiful, 
well-ordered, and well-furnillicd frame. Gody fays the 
Apoflle, who commanded the light tojioine out of darhnefs^ 
has Jh'ined into our hearts^ to ghs the light of the knowledge of 
the glory of God, in the face of Jefus Chrifl (i) ; whereas 
before, the underflanding was darkened ^ being alienated from 
the life of Gody through the ignorance that was in them^ becaufe 
of the hUndnefs or perverfenefs of their hearts (2). 

Now this illumination, of which I am fpeaking, does 
not fo much refer to a fpeculative, as to a pra(5lical and 
heart-irnpreffing knowledge. It is true, that when a man 
once comes to be in good earneft in religion, he general- 
ly arrives at a clearer and fuller knowledge, even of the 
dodrines of Chriftianity, than he had before : for he then 
fets himfelf to inquire with greater diligence, and to fee.k 
light of the great Father of Lights with greato: earneft- 
nefs ; he gets clear of m^any evil afFedions, that put a 
corrupt bias upon his judgment ; and lie (^omes within 
the reach of thofe promifes, Thenfloallwe know^ if we fol- 
low on to know the Lord (3) ; and if any man will do his 
willy hefhall know of the doBrine, whether it be of God (4), 
Yet, I think, I may very properly fay, that at various, 
times, when our jwJ^»2.f«^ of any object is the fame, our 
apprehenfions of it are v^ry different. It is one thing, for 
inftance, to believe that God is the omnipotent, ail-wife, 
and all-gracious governor of the world; and another, 
and very different thing, to have the heart powerfully 
imprefTed with an apprehenilon of his ability and readi- 
iiefs to help us. I will, therefore, a little more particu- 
larly illuftrate thofe refpe6^s, in which the apprehenfions 
of fuch as are really regenerate, differ from thofe v/hich 
they formerly had : and I hope you will do yourfelves 
the, juftice to refled, as we go along, how far you have 
ever felt thefe apprehenfions v/hich you hear me defcribe ; 
and I have a pleaiing perfuafion, that many of you have 
felt them, in a much livelier manner than they can be 
defcribed. I would obferve then to you, that a regen- 
erate foul has nev/ apprehenfions " of Gody — oi itfelf — of 
Chrlftj — of eteriuiyy — and of the way and method that God 
has m.arked out for its being happy there. ^' 

(i) 2 Cor. Iv. 6. (2) Ephcf. iv, 18. (3) Hof, Yi. 3, . 

(4) John A^iL I/,- 



44 SERMON II. 

I. A regenerate foul has ^^new appreherifions of the 
bleffed God:' 

There are very few who pretend fo much as to douht 
of the being of a God ; and fewer yet, that will venture 
to deny it : and even among thofe, who have denied it, 
and difputed again ft it, fome, by their own confeffion, 
have felt tlieir hearts give them the lie, and upbraid 
them for ufmg the powers of reafon and fpeech againft 
the Giver and Preferver of both. I perfuade myfelf at 
leaft, there are none that hear me this day, who would 
not look upon a profeffed Atheift as a monfter, unworthy 
to be a member of human fociety, and little to be trufted 
in any of its relations. Yet after all, while the being of 
the bleffed God is warmly afferted, his nature is fo little 
underftood and coniidered, that there are thoufands who 
may ftili properly be faid to be ^without God in the world { i ), 
or in pradice and temper, though not in notion, to be 
Atheiils in it. Wicked men therefore, in general, are 
defcribed as thofe that know not God (2) : but where 
God has determined to glorify his mercy in the falva- 
tion of a fmner, htjhtnes into the hearty for this bleffed 
purpofe, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
God {^)> And thus the glories of the Divine Being 
are known to the regenerate foul in fuch a manner, as 
they are not to the moft acute metaphyfician, or the fub- 
limeft philofopher, who is himfelf a ftranger to the fpi- 
ritual life. 

The perfon of v/hom we nov; fpeak, has new appre^ 
henfions " of the fpirituaUty and omniprefence of God^ — 
of his majejly and purity^ — of his power and patience ^ — of 
his goodnefsy — and his intimate aecefs to men's fpirits^ with 
the reality and importance of his operations upon them." 
— Permit me a little to reprefent the views of each, both 
to dired your inquiries, and aifo to imprefs your minds, 
and my own, with truths in which v/e have all fo inti- 
mate a concern. 

The divme Jpirituality and omniprefence is apprehended 
by the good man in a peculiar manner. That there is 
fome immaterial fubftance, and that matter is moved by 
his adive power continually impreffed upon it, accord- 

(i) Eph. ii. IS, (2) % Their, I 8. (3) a Cor, iv. 6, 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 45 

ing to ftated laws, is indeed fo plain a dI6late of reafon, 
that I queftion not but the thought influences the minds 
of feme, who have not fo much acquaintance with lan- 
guage as to be able properly to exprefs it : but, alas ! it 
eafily pafTes through, as if no way important. It is 
quite a diiFerent thing lo feel, as it were, the prefence of 
an infinitely intelligent and all-obferving Deity, adlually 
furrounding us in all times and places : — to fay from the 
heart. Oh Lord, thou hajl fearched me, and known me, {o 
that thou underjlandejl my thoughts afar ojf : ix)hither Jhall I 
go from thyfptrit, or whither jhall I flee from thy prefence ? 
'Thou hafl befei me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon 
me (i) ; — to feel, as it were, the hand of God, which in- 
deed we may feel, if we duly attend to it, in all the im- 
preffions made on our bodily fenfes, and on the powers 
of our mind ; — to feel ourfelves even now fupported by 
it, and to argue from the conftant fupport of his hand^ 
the never-failing -notice of his eye. " He reads my pref- 
^nt droughts ; he knov/s, even now, all the fecrets of my 
foul, and has always known them ; has always obferved 
my conduft in every the minuted particular ; and re- 
corded, in permanent characters, the whole hiftory of my 
life, and of my heart ; of this depraved, finfiil life, of 
this vain, this treacherous, this rebellious heart.'* 

With this conception of the divine obfervance are 
clofely and intimately conneded new apprehenfions of 
the purity of God, and of his infinite Majefly ; views, 
which mutually aflifl: and illuftrate each other. The 
irreverence with which the generality of men behave in 
the prefence of God, and the eafmefs with which they 
admit the flighteft temptation to fin againft him, plainly 
iliew what low notions they have of him : but God does, 
as it were, appear to the eye of a renewed mind, arrayed 
in his robes of light and majefty ; fo that he is ready to 
cry out, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, bui 
noiv mine eye feet h thee (2) : I fee the eternal, felf-exiftent, 
felf-fufficient God, who Jits upon the circle of the eat^th, and 
the inhabitants thereof are as gra/Jjoppers ; who fpreadeth out 
the heavens as a tent to dwell in, and looks down on the na^ 
tions as the drop of a bucket, and counts them as the fmall dujl 

(i) Pfal. cxxxix. I — 7. (2) Job xiii. 5» 



46 SERMON lit 

vf the balance ( i ) : 'who nvould not fear before him ? 'wh^ 
^ould not tremble at his prefence[ 2 ) ? who would not revere 
that God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evily and cannot 
look upon iniquity (3) .^ ''djho cannot be tempted 'voith evil (4)5 
but muft fee it, and hate it, even in all its forms ?" 

And fuch too are the views it has of his almighty po^v- 
try that the enlightened mind will further add, " A God 
of almighty power, who could fpeak a v/hole world into 
ruin (undoubtedly he could, for he fpoke it into exiftence) 
who by one fmgle thought, by one filent volition, could 
eafdy abafe the proudeit creature in the univerfe ; muft 
have it in his power to bring me in a moment to the duft 
of death, and to the flames of hell ; to lay me as low in 
mifery, and to hold me as long in it as he fhould pleafe x 
This, O my foul, this is the God, againft w^hom fuch 
feeble worms as we are daily offending, and whom we 
madly prefume to make our enemy." 

This gives the regenerate man a further fenfe of the 
patience of God^ than ever he had before. Others may 
look round upon the world, and v/onder there isfo m.uch 
penal evil in it ; but the renewed foul wonders there is 
not a thoufand times more. When he fees, hov/ the 
world lieth in nviclednefs (5) ; when he obferves, how 
poor, impotent mortals are, many of them perhaps, in 
w:ords blafphem.ing the God of Heaven : many more of 
them, moil prefumptuoufiy violating all the plaineft and 
moft important precepts of his law ; and moft of the 
reft, living in a perpetual forgetfuJnefs of him, as if he 
were not at all, or v/ere not fo confiderable as to be any 
way worth their notice ; fuch an one cannot but won- 
der, that the Almighty Majefty of Heaven does not in a 
moment make himfeif knov/n by the thunder of his power ^ 
and confound all their madnefs and folly, by crufhing 
the world with its inhabitants into ruin. He often fees 
the rifing fun, and the defcending rain, with aftonifh- 
ment that it fhould be fent down on fuch a v^^orld as 
ours. 

He has alfo more affe<5ling views than ever of the 
Divine Goodnefs. Moft men fpeculatively believe it i 

(i) Ifa. xl. 15, 22. (^) Jer. v.-az. (3) Hab. i. 13. 

(4) Jrtra. i. 13. (5) 1 John v. 19, 



l^ATURE OF REGENERATION. 47 

and they take occafion, even from that belief, to affront 
it ; but a good man views it at once as a delightful 
and a venerable thing : he fears the Lord and his goodnefs 
(i) ; and while it encourages him, guilty as he is, to re- 
pofe himfelf upon it as his hope, it-^wakens a generous 
kind of confufion at the thought of ever having offend- 
e<l him, and fills his very foul with indignation at the 
thought of repeating fuch offences. 

And once more, the regenerate man has quite differ- 
ent notions than before, of the intimate accefs ivhich God 
has to the fpirits of men y and his important /xjw^r of opperat^ 
ing upon them. The greateft part of men indeed confider 
not, as they ought, how the whole material world per- 
petually depends upon a Divine Agency, and is no other 
than one grand machine, on which the great artificer 
continually ads, to make it an inftrument of mercy to 
his fenfitive and intelligent creatures. But there are 
yet fewer, who ferioufly confider, how entirely the hearts 
of men are in the hand of the Lord, and how much depends 
on his influences upon tliem. Neverthelefs, experience 
teaches the renewed foul, that he is the God of the fpirit of 
<illj{ejh (2), and he not only views, but manages them 
as he pleafes. " Lord,'' does he fay, " this fpirit of 
mine is fliaded with thick darknefs, but thou canil 
illuminate it ; it is difeafed, but thou canil cure it ; it is 
vnjlahle as nvater (3), and lighter than a feather, yet thou 
canft fix and eftabliili it ; and whatever thou wouldd 
have me to be, and to do, for thy glory, and mine own 
happinefs, thou canfi: ivork in me both to 'will and to per-' 
form it (4) : fo that all I need, to the rectitude and felic- 
ity of my nature, is only this, that I may have more of 
thine inward, vital, operative prefence." It is not eafy 
to conceive, what efficacy this thought has, for the trans* 
formation of the foul. But again, 

2. New apprehenfions are conneded with thefe fenti- 
ments in the regenerate foul " concerning ^'z/^*^^, and its 
own ftate.** 

It is furprifing to think, how many run through fuc- 
cefllve years in life, without ever turning the eye of the 

(i) Hof. in 5. [f) Numb. xxvU. 16. (3) Gca3 xlix, 4, 
(4)PhIl.ii, 13. 



4? SERMON II. 

mind inward, that the foul may furvey itfelf. I fpeak 
not of a philofophlcal furvey of the faculties of the mind ; 
which, though indeed in its place it be ufeful and enter« 
taining, is no more necefTary in its refinements to a well- 
ordered ftate, than fkill in anatomy is to a healthful con- 
ftitution : but I fpeak of thofe views of the mind, which 
are in the reach of all, how low foever their genius, Or 
their education may have been. 

As all true happinefs is an internal thing, wherever 
God intends to produce it in the heart of a revolted, 
corrupted creature (and fuch, alasl we all naturally 
are) he leads it into a view of itfelf; and fhews it (if I 
may be allowed the expreffion) a mixture of grandeur and 
mi/ery, that lies within ; which yet the greatefl: part of 
mankind live and die v/ithout ever obferving. " I ani 
here,"does the awakened creature fay, " an intelligent be- 
ing ; far fuperior to this well-wrought frame of flefh 
and blood, which God has given me for a little while to 
command, and which I mull quickly drop in the duft : 
I am made capable of determining my own choice, of 
directing my own aclions, of judging concerning the im- 
portance of ends, and the propriety of means in fubfer* 
viency to them ; and while I fee a vaft variety of crea- 
tures in diiterent forms beneath me, I fee no rank of 
creatures above me nothing nobler than man, here on 
earth, where I dwell. Yet I fee man, in the midft of his 
glory, a feeble, dependent, mortal creature, v/ho cannot 
poffibly be his own end, nor can of himfelf alone, by any 
means command or enfure his own happinefs.- — Every- 
thing tells me, that he is the creature of God ; and that 
it is the greatelu honour and felicity, to know, and prac- 
tically to acknowledge himfelf to be fo : every thing 
tells me, that it is moll: reafonable, that God, who is the 
great original of man, fhould alfo be the end of his be- 
ing : hiiL xiave I made him the end of mine ? My foul, 
thou art confcious to thyfelf, thou haft lived in many in- 
ftances without hhn in the world ( i ). — He has given thee, 
even in the fyftem of thine own nature, and of the vifible 
beings that are round about thee, compared with his 
providential interpofition in the management of them, 

(i) Eph. ii. I a. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 49 

the intimations of his holy and righteous will ; he h,i.> 
cxpreifed thefe di<5l;ites far more plainly in his written 
w^ord : and when thou comeft to examine them, how art 
thou condemned by them ! When thou comeft to think 
of the fpirituality and purity of his being, and his law, 
how fhameful does thy temper, and thy life appear to 
have been ! what an infinite difproportion is there be- 
tween that, and its perfed rule ! — xA.nd whom, oh my 
foul, hail tliou offended ? v/hofe law haft thou broken ; 
whofe grace haft thou defpifed ? The law, the gj-ace of 
that eternal God, of whom I have now been hearing ; 
who is here prefent with me, who is even wdthin me, and 
who fees, oh my heart, (more diftindly than thou canft 
fee) all thy guilt, and all its aggravations. Oh Lord ! 
I abhor myfelf, and repent in dujl and afies (i). I have 
talked of fm, and of the fentence of God againft it, as a 
thing of courfe : but oh, my foul, it is thine ow^n con- 
<:ern I The guilt, the ftain of fm is ftill upon thee ; the 
fentence of God is pronounced againft thee ; and it maift 
be reverfed, or thou art undone forever, Thefe irregu- 
lar habits and dlfpolltions that prevail in thee, muft be 
correc^led, or they will prove thy mortal difeafe, and 
-everlafting torment. — Thou art a poor, weak, irrefolute 
creature ; the experience of every paft day of life, fmce I 
began to think of religion at all, proves it ; yet thou muft, 
by fome means or other, attain to inward ftrength and 
inward purity, or thou art loft : and all thefe great ca- 
pacities, and glorious faculties, will but make thy ruin 
io much the more diftinguifhed. Oh how weighty the 
care ! oh how great the charge 1 What ihall I do, that 
ihoughty that reajm^ that hnmortality^ may not be my de- 
ftrudtion ? Where fhall I find a rock, that "will be firm 
•enough for my fuppoii: and fafety ? where ft ail I rind 
the means, to build the f^ibric of fuch a happinefs as 
thine, oh my foul, muft be, if ever I am happy at all ?'' 
Thus does God teach the mind, by its inw^ard reviews 
and refieclions, this important leffon of its own impotence 
and guilt, of its depravity and ruin ; and fo prepares it 

fr thofe new apprehenfions of Chrift, which I mentioned 
the third particular. 

(i) Job xlii. 6. 
E 



5^ SERMON II. 

3. The regenerate foul hasv new appreRenfions " con* 
cerning the Lord Jefus Chrlfi^ coniidered as a Mediator 
in general, and as fuch a particular Mediator as he is ex- 
hibited in the word of God.'' 

That affec5ling view which the regenerate foul has of 
the majefty, glory, power, and purity of the bleffed God, 
will undoubtedly convince him how unfit he is in him- 
felf to appear before his awful prefence. He is ready to 
fmk down in the duft at the very thought, and to fay, 
** Who is able tojland before fuch a great and holy God^ as 
thou art ( I ) ? If I were in all the original redlitude and 
glory of my nature, I could not do it : how much lefs, 
furrounded as I am, with fo much guilty with fo much 
pollution 1 I need, as it were, a day^s-man betivtxt us, ivho 
might lay his hand upon us both (2), who fhould tranfadl 
affairs in m.y name with God, and bring the peaceful 
melTages of God to me : let fuch an ontfpeak with me, and 
I Will hear *, but let not Godfpeak with me, lejl I die (3)." 

And when he comes to take a more near and intimate 
view of this Mediator which God has exhibited in the 
gofpel, the renewed foul is even charmed and tranfport- 
ed with the view: and that Jesus, whofe name he be- 
fore pronounced with fo much coldnefs, that the very 
mention of it was a kind of profanation, now is regard- 
ed by him as the chief efl among ten thoufand (4). He be^ 
holds his glory, as that of the only begotten of the Father, full 
cf grace and truth (5). The union of the divine and hu- 
man nature in the perfon of Chrift, though it appears in- 
deed a myftery, which he cannot fully explain, is never- 
thelefs a glorious certainty, which in the general he 
moft cordially believes. He fees Emmanuel, God dwel- 
ling with us in human flefli, and acquiefces in the fight ; 
while the rays of Divine Glory are attempered by paff- 
mg through the veil, that is to fay, hlsjle/h (6). He confid- 
ers Chrl/l as made of God unto him wlfdom, and right eonf- 
nefs, and fanB'ificatlon, and redemption (7) : and each of 
thefe views rejoices him to the very heart. " Ignorant 
as I am, I (hall be taught and intruded by him, tliat 

(i) I Sam. vl. %o, (a) Job ix. Z2>' 0) ^^^'^- ^^* ^9- 

(4) Cant. V. 10. (5) Jc^lan i. 14. (6) Heb. x. 20. 

(7) I Cor. i. 30. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 5I 

great Prophet, whom God fent into the world ; by him, 
who is incarnate wifdom, as well as incarnate love ; 
whofe v7ords refound in the gofpel, and whofe Spirit 
feals the inftrudions of his word. Guilty as I^ am, my 
crimes fhall be expiated ; for there is redemption In his 
blood ; even the forglvenefs of fins (i) : there is an ever^ 
lafling righteoufnefs that he has introduced : and oh, how 
richly will it adorn my foul 1 — This pollution of mine 
ihall not forever exclude me from a comfortable inter- 
courfe with the pure Majefty of Heaven ; for ChriR: is 
come to be my fandlification ; and he can cleanfe me by 
his Spirit, and transform me into that divine, delightful 
image which I have loft. — Vidtorious Lord, how eafily 
canff" thou redeem me from that ftate of fervitude, in 
which I have been kept fo long com.plaining ! How ea- 
fily, and how powerfully, canft thou vindicate me int9 
the glorious liberty of the children of God (2) ! — Bleifed Jefus, 
thou art my light and my ftrength, my hope and my 
joy ! Thou art juft fuch a Saviour as my neceffity re- 
quires ; thou filleft up all my wants, and all my wifhes ; 
thou art all in all to me ! I would not be ignorant of 
thee for ten thoufand worlds : I would not live a day, 
nor an hour, without recollecfling who, and what thou 
art, and maintaining that intercourfe with thee, which is 
the life of my foul." 

4. The regenerate foul has alfo new apprehenfions 
" of the importance of eternity ^ when compared with 
time and all its concerns." 

It is indeed a moft pitiable thing, and awakens our 
aftonifliment, grief, and indignation, to obferve how the 
things of this world prefs down immortal fpirits, and re- 
duce them almoft indeed to a ftate of brutality. Moft: 
deplorable it is, to fee the po^er and energy of thofe 
motives, which are taken merely from this earth, and 
its little concernments, fo that if a man did but know 
what was the favouriu vanity^ he might almoft predi(5lj 
from the knowledge of circumftances, how a man's ac- 
tions would be ordered ; and might almoft be fure that 
he would follow, whitherfoever this intereft, or that 
pleafure, this ambitious, or that mercenary view, called 

(i) Eph. i. 7. (a) Rom. viii. ai, 



52 SERMON II. 

him ; though all the profpe<5ls for an eternal world 
pleaded the contrary way. Such is \\\q folly and madnefs 
that IS in men^s hearts nvhile they live ; and after that they go 
do-ivn to the dead (i ), and fpend that immortal duration, 
which they have defpifed, in fruitlefs lamentations. Fa- 
tal delufion 1 which it is the great defign of the gofpel 
to cure. 

But when a foul becomes luife to falvatlon^ it is taught 
to look not at the things ivh'ich are f ecu y hut at the things nvhich 
are not feen ; lecavfe it has now a full {^n£t of v/hat before 
it only notionally confefied, that the things zuhlch are feen, are^ 
temporal ; hut the things that are not feen, are eternal ( 2 ) — 
Eternity ! it is impoffible I fhould tell you how much 
an eye, that is enlightened by God, fees., and reads, as it 
were, in that one word ; while one fcene beyond another 
is ftill opening on the mind, till its frght and its thoughts 
are fwallowed up : and as the creatures are as nothing 
w^ith refpedl to God, fo all the interefts of time, with re- 
fpecl to eternity, appear as lefs than nothing and 'vanity (3), 
To be made for an everlafting exiftence appears in fa 
awful a viev^j that while it has fome pleaiing hope, it re^ 
jokes 'With trernlTing ; and every remaining fear, with re- 
lation to this great intereft, feems a greater evilj. than the 
certainty of any temporal calamity. 

I might add upon this head, that the regenerate foul 
has not only new views of the importance, but likewife of 
the nature of the inviiible and eternal ftate ; and particu- 
larly of the nature of the celeftial happinefs. It does 
net coniider it merely, or chiefly, as a ftate of corporeal 
enjoyment, formed to gratify and delight the fenfes ; but 
as a ftate of perfedl conformity to God, and moft endear- 
ing intercourfe with him ; of which, as it begins already 
by Divine Grace to tafte the pleafures, fo it moft ar- 
dently thirfts after them ; and would be heartily willing 
to lofe this body forever, and to bid an eternal adieu to 
every objedl capable of giving it delight ; rather than it 
would confent to lofe, in a perpetual fucceflion of fucb 
objedts, the fight of the Father of Spirits , and that fenfibil- 
ity of his love, vmich adds the moft fubftantial folidity, 
and exalted relifh, to every inferior good that can be de^' 
fired from it. 

(i) Ecclef. ix. 3. (2) % Cor. iv. 18, (^) Ifa. xl. x;. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. $$ 

5. A regenerate man has alfo new apprehenfiOBS ^^ of 
the <way which God has marked out to this hapfinefsJ^ 

Nothing is more common than for carnal and ignorant 
men to imagine, that it is a very eafy thing to get to 
Heaven ; and upon this prefumption, they hew out to 
them/elves ctjlerns^ broken clfterns^ that can' hold 710 nvater ( I ) ; 
and often live and die with a lie in their right hand (2). 
But the renev/ed foul, having fuch awful notions of the 
bleffed God, and fuch apprehenfions of the excellency 
and glory of the heavenly ftate, as you have heard, 
deeply feels how abfolutely neceflary it is, that fomething 
of a very great and important change fhould pafs in the 
mind of that fmful creature, that ever hopes to be a par- 
taker of it. He fees, that it is impofTible any external 
profeffion, or external rite, fhould fecure fo great an end ; 
impoffible, that baptifm fhould be regeneration, in that 
fenfe in which the Scripture ufes the word, or that by 
this alone, though ever fo regularly adminiftered, a man's 
eternal happinefs fhould be fecured. He fees, that to be 
affociated to this or that party of Chriftians, to join v/ith 
eftabliiTied, or with feparate churches, and to be ever fo 
zealous for their refpedive order, worfhip, and difcipline, 
is a thing quite of foreign confideration here 5 and that 
the beft, or the worft of men, may be, and probably are, 
on one fide and on another ; nay, that ignorance, pride, 
and bigotry may take occafion from hence to render 
mQn farther frotn the kingdom of God, than any miftake in 
judgment or pradice, on thefe difputed points, could 
have fet them, 

N05 my brethren, when a man's eyes are enlightened 
by God's renewing Spirit, he fees and feels that, in the 
language of Scripture, he muft be created zncw in Chrijije- 
fus ( 3 ) : he fees, that holinefs is a charadler ^without which 
no manjhall fee the Lord (4) ; and he is perhaps little anx- 
ious, whether this, or the faith that produces it, fhall be 
called a condition, or a qualification, or an inftrument, 
while he fees he muft perifh without it : he fees, that as 
it is abfolutely neceffary, fo it is very extenfive, as the 

, (i) Jen ii. 13. (2) Ifa. xliv. XQ, (3) Eph. ii. 10. 

(4) Heb. xii. 14, 

E 2 



54 SERMON 11, 

commandment^ which is its rule, h exceedlr.g broad ( i ) : he 
fees, that it muft not only efFetflually regulate the actions 
of his life, but control all the fentiments of his heart ; 
nay, he fees, it muft not only be fubmitted to as a nee- 
eifary, but be chofen as a moft amiable thing : and, a^:- 
cordingly, he does choofe it as fuch. — The unregenerate 
foul, when he hears of repentance and reformation, 
though he underftands not half that it means, nor is 
aware of what will, in fadt, be the greateft difficulty of 
it, looks upon it at beft as a naufeous medicine, which 
he muft take, or die ; but the regenerate man finds his 
heart fo wonderfully and fo happily changed, that he 
regards it for itfelf, as the food, the health, and the life 
of his foul ; as that which neceffarily brings its own 
pleafures, and in a confiderable degree, its e-wn reward 
along with it ; fo that now, as David beautifully ex- 
prefTes it, He opcneth his mouthy and panfeth ; lecaufe he longs- 
for God^s commandments (2). ~ 

And I will add once more, the good man is alfo made 
fenfible of the place which faith and holinefs hold, in 
the fcheme which God has laid, for our juftiiication be- 
fore him, and our acceptance with him. I do not fay 
that all Chnjiians conceive of this Vv^ith equal perfpicuity, 
or exprefs their conceptions with equal exa(Etnefs : the 
moft candid allowance fliould here be made for the dif- 
ferent ideas they fix to the fame phrafes, as they have 
been ufed to look upon them with veneration, or with 
fufpicion. But this I v/ill venture to fay, becaufe I am 
perfuaded the Scripture will bear me out in it, " that 
the confidence of a regenerate foul is not fixed on his 
own holinefs, or faith, as the meritorious caufe of his 
acceptance with God." He is deeply and cordially fen- 
fible, that he is made accepted in the Beloved ( 3 ) ; and fee- 
ing nothing but guilt,, and weaknefs, and ruin in himfelf, 
he afcribes to the blelTed Jefus, and to the riches of God's 
free grace in him, his righteoufnefs, his ftrength, and 
]iis falvation. And where a man is thus perfuaded, I 
think he muft, in effe<5l, believe, even though he might 
fcruple in words exprefsly to own it, " that Chrift as our 
great furety having perfedly obeyed the law of God 

(x) pral. cxix. 96. (%) Verf^ 131. (3) Eph, i. ^. 



NATURE Of REGENERATION. $5 

himfelf, and by his blood having fully fatisfied the 
Divine Juftlce for the breach of it, we, on our believing 
in him by a vital faith, are juftified before God by the 
imputation of his perfe<fl righteoufnefs.'' This latter 
way of dating it, when rightly explained, appears juft 
equivalent to the former ; and it is a manner of conceiv- 
ing and exprelfing it, which, when rightly underftood, 
feems extremely fuitable to that deep humility, and pov- 
erty of fpirit, to which the renewed foul is brought, 
when. Hie a neiv-born lahe^ it defires the Jlncere milk of the 
<wordy that it may grow thereby ( I )• But as the mind, at 
fuch a time, finds little inclination to contend about 
words and phrafes, it would be much lefs proper for me, 
to enter into any controverfy about them here. 

Let it fuffice for the prefent, that 1 have given you 
this plain reprefentation of that change, which is wrought 
in a man's apprehenfions, when he is made a new 
creature. When old things are pajfed away^ he has neiv 
apprehenfions of God, of himfelf^ of Chrl/iy of eternity ^ and of 
the ivay to obtain the happinefs of it : and as at this 
happy time all things are become nenv^ there are, "new 
affedions, new refolutions, new labours, new enjoyments, 
and new hopes," which are the refult of the change 
already defcribed* But it will be much more difficult 
to reduce what I have to offer on thefe heads, within the 
bounds of the next Difcourfe, than proper to attempt 
any of them in this. Go home, my friends, and try 
yourfelves by what you have already heard ; and b^ 
afTured, that if you are condemned by this part of the de- 
fcription, it is impoffible you fhould be approved by any 
that will follow ; fiuce they have all their foundatio^^ 
in this. 



<i) I Pet, \l % 



SERMON IIL 



OF THE NATURE OF REGENERATION, V/ITH RESPECT 
TO THE CHANGE IT PRODUCES IN MEN'S AF- 
FECTIONS, RESOLUTIONS, LABOURS, EN- 
JOYMENTS, AND HOPES, 



2 COR. V. 



If any man be in Chrift, he Is a new creature / old tSingj^ 
are pajfed away^ behold^ all things are become neiv» 

AMONG the various fubjeas, which exercife the 
thoughts' and tongues of men, few are more 
talked of than Religicju But it is melancholy to think 
how little it is underftood ; and how much it is mif- 
taken and mifreprefented in the world. The text 
before us gives us a very inftruflive view of it ; fuch a 
view, that I am fure, an experimental knowledge of its 
fenfe would be infinitely preferable to the mod critical 
and exadl knowledge of all the moft curious pafTages, 
both of the Old Teftament, and the New. From it, you 
know, I have begun to defcribe that great change, 
which the word of God teaches us to reprefent under 
the notion of regeneration^ or, according to the language 
of St. Paul, in this pafTage of his writings, by a new crea- 
tion, I know I am explaining it before many, who have 
been much longer acquainted with it than myfelf ; and 
It becomes me to believe, before many that have attain- 
ed much higher advancements in it : but I fear alfo at 
the :{lime time, I fpeak of it before many, who are yet 
ftrangers to it j and I am labouring, by the plained ad- 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. $J 

drefles that I can, to give them at leaft fome juft ideas 
of it. Oh, that to all the defcriptions that either have, 
or fhall be given, God may, by his grace, add that un- 
derftanding which arifes from feeling correfpondent im- 
preilions on the mind ! 

I have already endeavoured to illuPcrate thofe new ap« 
prehenfions, which' arife in the regenerate mind ; appre~ 
henfions of the blelTed God, of itfelf, of Chriil:, of the eter- 
nal world, and of the way to obtain the happinefs of it. It 
now remains, that I coniider thofe " new aife6Lions, ref» 
olutions, labours, enjoyments, and hopes,'^ which refult 
from them. I obferve, therefore, 

II. That thefe new appi^ehenjions will be attended with 
new Affections. 

I readily acknowledge, that the degree in which the 
alFedions operate, may, and will be different, in different 
perfons, according to their natural conftitution : but as 
in fome degree or another, they make an effential part 
of our frame, it is impoffible but they mud be imprefled 
with a matter of fiich infinite importance, as religion 
will appear. And the apprehenfions defcribed above, 
muff awaken the exercife of correfpondent affedions, 
and diredl them to objeds very different from thofe hj 
which they were before excited^ and on v/hich they were 
fixed. And here now, 

I . This may be efpecially illuilrated in love. 

Love is indeed the ruling paffion of the mind, and 
has all the reft in an avowed and real fubjedlion to it. 
And here lies the very root of human mifery in our fallen 
and degenerate ftate : v;e are naturally lovers of ourf elves 
in a very irregular degree ; lovers of pkafuresy more than 
lovers of God (i). E'Ut, on the contrary, the Jirjl and 
great commandment of the law is written in the breaft of ev- 
ery regenerate m.an : thoujhalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thine hearty and with all thy foul, and with all thy mind ( 2 ). 
It is true indeed, that if his foul were perfedly delivered 
into this mould, and his attainments in Divine love were 
complete, there would be an end of all fm, and almoft 
of all calamity too : for what evil could affail or xm^ 

(i) % Tim. ill, 4. (2) Mat. xxii. 37. aSa 



58 



SERMON III. 



prefs a mmd entirely and unchangeably fixed upon God ? 
Yet that the love of God fliould be the prevailing affec- 
tion, is not merely a circumftance, but an effential part 
of true religion. While the good man fees him ivho is 
invlfihle (i), as infinitely perfed in himfelf, and as the 
author of being and happinefs to the whole creation, he 
cannot but acknowledge, that he is, beyond comparifon, 
the moft amiable of all objects. And though it is cer- 
tain, that nothing can fo much induce and inflame our 
love to God, as a well-grounded affurance, that he is be- 
come our God, and our Father in Chrift ; yet before 
the regenerate foul has attained to this, a fenfe of thofe 
favours which he receives from God in common with 
the whole human race, and more efpecially of thofe 
which are infeparable from a Chriftian profeffion, to- 
gether with the apprehenfion of his being acceffible 
through a mediator, and reconcileable to fmful men> 
will diffufe fome delightful fenfe of God over the mind, 
which will grow fweeter in proportion to the degree in 
which his own hopes brighten and fettle, while they are 
growing toward the full affurance of faith. 

And as the real Chriftian loves him that legate he loves 
him alfo that is begotten of him (2). He loves the Lord J e- 
fus Chrifl injincerity (3), viewing him not in a cold and 
infenfible manner, as he once did, but with inflamed af- 
fedlions, as the chief ejl among ten thoufand, and altogether love* 
ly (4). If he hnoiusy in any d^grtQ, the grace of our Lord 
Jefus Chrijl (5), in becoming incarnate for the falvation 
cf his people, in making himfelf a facrifice for their fins, 
and paying his life for the ranfom of their lives ; he feels 
himfelf drawn toward Jefus, thus If ted up on the crofs (6) ; 
and the love of Chrifl conflrains him (7) to fuch a degree, 
that he longs to find out fome acceptable method to ex- 
prefs his inward and overbearing fenfe of it. How di- 
vided foever true Chriftians may be in other refpeds, 
they all agree in this, in loving that J^fus <whom they have 
not feen (8). 

We may further recolle(5l on this head, that the ApoA 
tie, in a folemn manner, adjures Chriftians by the love of 

(i) Heb. XI. a;. (i) i John v. i. (3) Eph. vi. 1^ 

(4) Cant. V. 10, 1 6. (5) a Cor. viii. 9. (6) John xii. 3a. 

(7) % Cor. V. lij. (8) I Pet.L 8. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 59 

lbs Spirit ( I ) ; thereby plainly implying, that fiich a 
Jove to him is an important branch of their charader : 
and it muft be fo in all thofe who regard him, as every 
regenerate foul does, as the author of divine light and 
life, and as the fource of love and happinefs, by whom 
this lovs of God Is Jhed abroad in the heart (2), while it is 
enlarged with facred delight to run the way of his command- 
ments (3) : as that Spirit^ by whom we are fealed to the 
day of redemption (4), and who brings down the fore- 
taftes of Heaven to the heart in which he dwells, and 
which, by his prefence, he confecrates as the temple of 
God is). 

And moll natural is it, that a foul filled with thefe im- 
preffions and views Ihould overflow with unutterable joy, 
and feeling itfelf thus happy in an intercourfe with its 
God, fhould be enlarged in love to man : for^ fays the 
Apoftle, ye are taught of God to love one another ( 6 ) . Thofe, 
whom he apprehends as his brethren by regenerating 
grace, he knows are with him beloved of the Lord ; and 
as he hopes to dwell with them forever in glory, he muft 
love them fo far as he knows them now. And though 
a narrow education, and that bigotry, which fometimes 
conceals itfelf under very honourable and pious names, 
may perhaps influence even a fanftified heart, fo far as 
to entertain unkind fufpicions as to thofe, whofe relig- 
ious fentiments may differ from his own, and it may be, 
to pafs fome rafli cenfures upon them ; yet as his ac- 
quaintance with them increafes, and he difcerns, under 
their diiFerent forms, the traces of their common Father, 
his prejudices wear off, and that fometimes by very fen- 
fible degrees ; and Chriftians receive one another^ as Chrijl 
has received them all (7). And where the good man 
cannot love others with a love of complacency and 
efteem, he at lead beholds them with a love of compaf- 
Con and pity ; and remembers the relation of fellow- 
creatures, where he fees no reafon to hope that they are 
fellow-heirs with him. In a word, the heart is melted 
down into tendernefs ; it is warmed with generous fen- 
timents J it longs for opportunities of difFufmg good of 

(i) R.om. XV. 30. (2) Rom. v. 5. (3) Pfal cxix. 3^. 

(4) Eph.iK. 30. (i) I Car. iii. id. (6) i IheiX iv. 9. 

(7.) Rom. XV. 7. 



6o SERMON III. 

all kinds, both temporal and fplritnal, wide as its influence 
can reach ; It beats with an ardour, which fometimes pain- 
fiilly recoils upon a man's felf, for M^ant of ability to 
help others in proportion to his defire to do it ; and that 
God, who knows all the inmoft workings of his mind, 
hears many an importunate iilterceffion for others in the 
hours of folemn devotion, and many a compaflionate 
ejaculation, which he is occafionally fending up to 
Heaven from time ro time, as he pafFes through fo frnful 
and fo calamitous a world. 

Thefe are the ruling affe<51ions In the heart of a good 
inan ; and though it is neither reafonable nor poffible, 
that he fhould entirely diveft himfelf of felf-love, yet he 
endeavours to regulate it fo, that it may not Interfere 
with the more important confideration of general good. 
Self has the lowefl place in his regards, nor does he 
limit his affecflion to a party ; but aiming at extenfive 
ufefulnefs, he guards againft thofe Immoderate attach- 
ments to particular fi-iendfhips, and thofe extravagant 
failles of perfonal fondnefs, which are often no more 
than felf-love under a fpeclous difgulfe ; which at once 
alienate the heart from God, and contraft the focial 
affedtions within very narrow, and thofe very Irregular 
bounds ; and fo prove almoft as fatal to the health of 
the mind, as an exceiTive flow of blood into one part 
w^ould be to that of the body. 

I have enlarged fo coploufly on this change in the 
leading affedlon of the mind, that I muft touch In a 
more tranfient manner on the reft. I add, therefore, 

2. That a regenerate foul has new an)€rJtons, 

He once hated knowledge^ and did not choofe the fear ofths 
Lord\i). He hated the light (2), which difclofed to the 
aching eye of his confcience the beloved and indulged 
irregularities of his heart. He hated every thing that 
laid an embargo upon his lufts ; and was ready to count 
thofe for his enemies that plainly admonifhed him, and 
fecretly to diflike thofe whofe conducl even filently re- 
proved him. But now all thefe things are amiable to 
him ; and thofe are efteemed his moft valuable friends, 
wkofe example may be moft edifying, whofe inftru<5lions 

(i) Prov. i. 29. (2) John iii. %o. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 6l 

may be mod ufeful, and whofe admonitions may be mod 
faithful. For he now hates every fal/e way ( i ) ; yea, and 
every 'vain thought too (2). He looks upon every irreg- 
ular defire as an enemy, which he longs utterly to fub- 
due ; and efpecially drives againft that Jin which does mojl 
eajily hefet him, and abhors it more than he ever delighted 
in it. And though he rather pities than hates the per- 
fons of the mod wretched and mifchievous tranfgreffors, 
yet he can no longer continue an endearing friendfhip 
with thofe, who were once his feducers to fm, and his 
companions in it. In this fenfe, like David, he hates the 
congregation of einl-doers^ and will not fit with the wicked (3 ) ; 
and if they will not be wrought upon by his compatlion- 
ate endeavours to reclaim them, he will foon break off 
the infe6lious intercourfe, and fay, Depart from me, ye e'uiU 
doers, for I determine that I will keep the commandments of 
my God (4) . 

3. The regenerate man has alfo ne-iu dejlres^ 

There was a time, vihtnjinfulpaffions, as the Apoftle 
expreffes it, did uoork in his members to bring forth fruit unto 
death (5). He "WTis fulfilling the dejires ofthejlejjj, and of the 
mind (6), and making prom fion to fulfil the lufls of both (7}« 
But now he earneftly defires a conformity to God, as his 
higheft happinefs ; and can look up to him, and fay, 
" Oh, Lord, the deftre of my foul is to thy name, and to the re-- 
memhrance of thee (8) ; to maintain fuch a fenfe of thy 
prefence at all times, as may influence my heart to think, 
my lips to fpeak, and my hands to ^di, in a manner fuit- 
able to that remem.brance, and agreeable to thy wife and 
holy Will." He now hungers and thirjls after righteoufnefs 
(9) ; feels as real an appetite after more advanced de- 
grees of piety and holinefs, as he ever felt toward the 
gratification of his fenfes ; and efteems the proper meth- 
ods of attaining thefe advanced degrees, even more than 
his neceffary food ( lo). Inftead of defiring to run through 
a long courfe of animal enjoyments, he defires to get 
above them ; longs to be a pure and triumphant fpirit in 

';t) Pfal. cxix. 104.. (2) Verf^ 113. (3) Pfal. XXVU5. 

' PIVil. cxix. 115. (5) Rom. vii. 5* (6) Eph. ii. 3. 

Rom. xiii. 14. (8) lia. xxvi, 8. (9) Mat. v. 6, 

\--^) J^-'^^ xxili. iij. 



6Z SERMON in. 

the refined regions of immortality ; and h tullling rather 
to be abfent from the hocly^ and to he pre fait ivith the Lord ( i ). 
But I wave the farther illuftration of this, till I come 
to confider the new hopes which infpire him. I there- 
fore add, as a necefiary confequence of thefe new defires, 

4. That the .regenerate man has ne'w fears. 

Pain and forrow, difappointment and afHidion, he nat- 
urally feared ; and the forebodings of his own mind 
■would fometimes awaken the fears of future punilhment, 
according to the righteous judgment of an offended 
God : but new he fears not merely punifhment, but 
guilt ; fears the remonftrance of an injured confcience ; 
for he reverences confcience as God's vicegerent in his 
bofom. He therefore fears the moft fecret fms, as well 
as thofe which might occafion public difgrace ; yea, he 
fears, left by a precipitate and inconfiderate conducfl: he 
fhould contra<5t guilt before he is aware. He fears, 
left he iliould inadvertently injure and grieve others, even 
the v/eakeft and the meaneft. He fears ufmg his liberty^ 
in a manner that might enfnare his brethren, or might 
occafion any fcandal to a Chriftian profeffion : for fuch 
is the fenfibility of hie heart in this refped, that he would 
be more deeply concerned for the difhonour brought to 
God, and the reproach which might be thrown on religion 
by any unfuitable condudl of his, than merely for that 
part of the fliame that might immediately and directly 
fall upon himfelf. But again, 

5. The regenerate man has new joys. 

Thefe arife chiefly from an intercourfe with God 
through Jefus Chrift ; and from a review of himfelf, as 
under the fandlifying influences of his grace, and as 
brought into a ftate of favour with him, in proportion to 
the degree in which he can difcern himfelf in this charac- 
ter and ftate. 

You know David, fpeaking of God, calls him his f.v- 
ceedlngjoy (2) ; and declares the gladnefs he had put Into 
his heart, by If ting up the light af his countenance upon hlm^ to 
be far beyond what they could have, ^j^hofe corn and nvlne 
tncreafed (3). And the Apoftle Paulfpeaks of Chriftians, 

(i) % Cor. V. 8. {%) Pfal. xHii. 4. (3) P^^l' iv. 6>7- 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 63 

tL^ joying in God through Jefiis Chri/l (i), and as rejoicing in 
Chrlj} J ejus (2) : and Peter alfo defcribes them as thofe, 
who, belie'ving in hiniy though vnfeen, rejoice with joy unfpeah- 
able, and full of glory (3). 

Perhaps there was a time, when the good man cen- 
fured all pretences of this kind, now at lead in thefe lat- 
ter days of Chriftianity, as an empty, enthufiaftic pre- 
tence ; but fmce he has tajled that the Lord is gracious (4), 
he has that experimental knowledge of their reality and 
excellence, which he can confidently oppofe to all the 
mod artful and fcphiftical cavils ; and could as foon 
doubt, whether the fun enlightens his eyes, and warms 
his body, as he could queftion, whether God has ways 
of manifeiling himfelf to fouls when it is felt with unut- 
terable delight : and when thus entertained, he can adopt 
David* 3 words, and fay, that his foul is fatlsfed as with 
marrow and fatnefs, fo that with joyful lips hspraifes God{^), 
when his msditaiicn of him is thus fweet (6), and God fays 
nnto his foul y lam thyfalvation (7). 

The furvey cf the Lord Jefus Chrift gives him alfo un- 
utterable joy 5 while he refleds on that ample provifion, 
which God has made by him, for the fupply of all his 
neceiEties ; and that firm fecurity which is given to his 
foul by a believing union with Chrift ; whereby his life 
is conneded with that of his Siviour. In his conftant 
prefence, in his faithful care, he can boajl all the day 
long (8) ; and that friendfhip, which eftabliflies a com- 
munity of interefts between him and his Lord, engages 
him to rejoice in that falvation and happinefs, to which 
he is advanced at the right hand of God, and gives him, by 
joyful fympathy, his part with Chrift in glory, before he 
perfonaily arrives at the full polTefTion of it. 

I add, that he alfo rejoices in the confcioufnefs of God's 
gracious work upon his own foul, fo far as he can dif- 
cern the traces of it there. He delights to feel himfelf, 
as it were, cured of the mortal difeafe with which he once 
faw himfelf infec^ted ; to find himfelf in health and vig- 
our of mind, renewed to a conformity with the Divine 
Image. He delights to look inward, and fee that tranf- 

(i) Rom. v. II. (a) Phil. ill. 5. (3) r Pet. \, 8, 

(4) I Pet. ii. 3. (5) Pfal. hiii. 5. (6) Pfai. civ. 2>4^ ' 

(7) Pfal. XXXV. 3. (8) Pfal xliv. 8. 



64 SERMON III. 

formation of foul, ^vhIch has made the <ii^'iIJerhefs lik the 
garden of the Lord ( I ), fo that mjiead of the thorn there 
Jhall come up the f.r-tree^ and injlead of the hrlar^ the 
myrtle (2). Thus the good man is fathfied from h'lm- 
f^Vi'h) y ^^^<^ though he humbly refers the ultimate glo- 
ry of all to that God, by whofe grace he is luhat he is (4}, 
he enters with pleafure into his own mind, and reckons it 
a part of gratitude to his great Benefactor, to enjoy with 
as high a reh'fn as he can, the prefent workings of divine 
grace within him^ as well as the pleafmg profpeclof -what 
it will farther do. 

But this head has fo near a refemblance to fome that 
are to follow, that were I to enlarge upon it, as I eafily 
might, I fhould leave room for nothing different to be 
faid upon them. I v/ill only add, 

6. That as the counter-part of this, ne'm forrows will 
arife in the mind cf a regenerate man. 

Thefe are particularly fuch as fpring — from the ^with- 
nraiolngs cf God's prefence — from the remainder of fn in 
the foul- — and from Xht prevalence of it in the tvorld about hinu 

The regenerate man Vv'ill mourn, " when the reviving 
manifeftarions of God's prefence are withdrawn from 
his foul." It feems very abfurd to interpret the number- 
lefs paifages in the facred writers, in which they com- 
j>lain of ihe hidings of God^s face from them^ as if they 
merely referred to the v/ant ©f temporal enjoyments, or 
to the prelTare of temporal calamities. If the light of 
God's countenance^ which they fo exprefsly oppofe to tem- 
poral bleflings, fignify a fpiritual enjoyment, the want of 
it mad relate to fpiritual defertion. And I believe 
there are few. Chriftians in the^world, who are entirely 
unacquainted with this. They have m-ofl of them their 
feafons, when they ^^alk in darhnefsy and fee little or m) 
.%i^/(5):^nd this not only when anxious fears arife 
'A'ith relation to their own fpiritual if ate ; but at fome 
other times^Tvhen, though they can in the main call God 
the\r father y yet he feems, as it were, to fland afar off^ and 
to continue them at a diftance, which wears the face of 
unkindnefs, efpecially under temptations and other afilic- 

(x) Ila. li. 3. (2) Ifa. Iv. 13. (3) Prov. xiv. 14. 

(4) I Gor. XV. 10. (5) Ifa- 1. IQ, 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. ' 6$ 

tlons, in which they lofe their lively fenfe of God's pref- 
ence, and that endearing freedom of converfe with him, 
which, through the influence of the fp'irit of adoption on 
their fouls, they have fometimes known. If thisbemyf- 
terious and unintelligible to feme of you, I am heartily 
forry for it ; but 1 do not remember that I was ever in- 
timately acquainted with any one, who feemed to me a 
real Chriftian, that has not, upon mentioning the cafe, 
acknowledged, that he has felt fomething of it : at lead 
I will boldly venture to fay this, that if you are truly re- 
generate, and do not know what I mean by it, it is be- 
'eaufe you have hitherto been kept in a continual flow of 
holy joy, or at leaft in a calm and cheerful perfuafion of 
your intereft in the Divine favour : and even fuch may 
fee the day, "wh^wjlrong as their mountain feems lojland^ 
God may hide his face to their trouble ( i ) : or, however, 
they will infer from what they now feel, that it mufl: be a 
mournful cafe whenever it occurs ; and that forrow, in 
fuch a circumftance, will foon flrike on a truly fandified 
heart, and wound it very deep. 

The forrow of a good man alfo arifes " from the re- 
mainder of fin in his foul.^' Though he is upright he" 
fore God, and proves it by keeping himfeJf from his iniqui'^ 
/J' {2) ; yet he cries out, Who can iinderjland his errors (3) ? 
Wbo can fay y I have made my heart clean^ I am pure from my 
Jtn (4) ? A fenfe of the fmfulnefs of his nature humbles 
him in the duft ; and the firft rifmgs of irregular incli- 
nations and paffions give him a tender pain, v/ith which 
a carnal heart is unacquainted, even v/hen fin is domi- 
neering within him. 

And once more, "The prevalence of fm in the v,rorld 
around him,'^ is a grief to one that is born of God. It 
pierces him to the heart to fee men difhonouring God, 
and ruining themfelves : he beholds tranfgreffors^ as David 
well expreffes it, with a mixture of indignation 7i,r\dfor' 
row (5) ; and when he ferioufly confiders howgommon, 
and yet how fad a cafe it is, he can perhapr borrow the 
words of the fame prophet, fo far as to fay, that rivers 
of waters run down his eyes, becaufe men heep not the law of 

(i) Pfal. XXX. 7. (z) Pfal. xvlil, 23. (3) pfal- xj^x. 1%, 

(4) Prov. XX, 9, (5) Pfal, cxxxix. %i, 

F 2 



66 SERMON HI. 

God [i). — Now, as thefe are forrows that ieldom do at 
ail atfedt the heart of an unregenerate man, I thought it 
the more proper to mention them^ to aiFift you in your 
inquiries into your owii ftate. 

Such are the afFe6lions of love and averfion, of defire 
and fear, of joy and forrow, which fill the breaft of the 
regenerate man, and naturally arife from thofe new ap- 
prehenlions which are defcribed under the former heado 
I add, 

III. That he has alfo ?ietu resolutions. 

You will eafily apprehend I fpeak of thofe that are 
formed for the fervice of God, and againft fm. 1 readily 
acknowledge, that there are often, in unregenerate men, 
fome refolutions of this kind, and perhaps thofe very- 
warm, and for the prefent very fmcere ; yet there is 
confiderable dliference between them and thofe we are 
now to reprefent ; as the refolutions of the truly good 
man are more univerfal, more immediate^ and more humble. 

1. The refohihons which he now forms, are more unh 
^erfcdxh'diTi they ever were before. 

He does not nov/ refolve agahift this or that fin, but 
sgainft all ; againft lin>, as fni ; as oppofite to the holi- 
Xicfs of God, and deftrudlve of the honour and happinefs 
oi the rational creation. He does not fay v/ith Naaman, 
concerning this or that more convenient iniquity, th^ 
J jGi'd pardon thy ftrvant in this thing (2) ; nor does he re- 
folve to excvife himfelf in an indulgence, even to that Jin 
^ivhlch does moji ccjily hefet him (3) : but rather, in his gen- 
trd\ determination againrl fin, and in thofe folemn en- 
gagements with vvhich fuch determinations may be 
attended, he fixes efpecially upon thofe fms which he 
might before have been moil ready to except. 

2. The refolutions of the regenerate man are more 
immediate. 

It very frequently happens, that while others are un- 
der av/akening impreffions, as they fee a neceffity for 
p:arting with their fms, and engaging in what they may 
call areHgious life, they refolve upon it : but then they 
think it may be delayed a httle longer \ perhaps a few 

(6) PfaL ciix. 136. (2) % Kings v. 18. (3) Htb. xii. i. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 6/ 

years, or at leafl: a few weeks or days ; or they, perhaps, 
refer it to fome remarkable period which is approach- 
ing, which they flatter themfelves they ihall make yet 
more remarkable, as the era of their reformation : but, 
in the mean time, they will take their farewel of their 
lufts by a few more indulgences ; and thus they delude 
themfelves, and rivet on their chains fafter than before. 
But the good man, with David, makes hajle^ and delays not 
to keep the commandments of God ( i ). He is like the prodi- 
gal, who, as foon as ever he faid, / will arife and go to my- 
father^ immediately arofe and came to him ( 2 ). He reckons 
the time he has already fpent in the fervice of fm w.ay 
fuffice (3), and that indeed it is far more than enough : 
he wifhes he could call back that which is pafl ; but he 
determines, that he will not take one flep further in this 
unhappy path. He fully purpofes, that he will never 
once more deliberately and prefumptuoufly o^end God, 
in any matter, great or fmall ; if any thing can be called 
fmall, which is a deliberate and apprehended offence : 
and he determines, that from this moment he v/illj'/^/J 
h'lmfelf to God^ as alive fro?n the dead^ and employ his mem^ 
hers as injiruments of righieoufnefs (4). But then, 

3, His refolutions are more modejl and humble than 
they have ever ht^v^ before. 

And this indeed is the great circumftance that renders 
them more effe(5luaL— When an awakened fmner feels 
himfelf moft enflaved to his vices, he pleafes himfelf v/ith 
this thought, that there is a fecret kind of fpring in his 
mind, which, when he pleafes to exert, he can break 
through all at once, and commence, whenever that un- 
happy neceffity comes upon him, a very religious man in 
a moment. And when confcience preiTes him with the 
memory of paft guilt, and the reprefentation oi future 
danger^ he cuts off thefq remonftrances with a haity re- 
folve, *<I will do fo no more ;" but thevi, perhaps, the 
effed of this may not lafi: a day ; though poiTibly it iriay, 
at other times, continue a few weeks or months, where 
the groffer adls of iin are concerned : and indeed his ref- 
olutions feldom reach farther than thefe ; for the necef- 
fity of a fmaiiied heart is a m.yflery which he has never 

(i) Pfal. cxix. 60, (i) Luke xv. 18, zo, 

(3) I Pet. V. 3. (4)P.Qm. vL 13. 



68 SERMON III. 

yet learned. But a trul^ regenerate man has learned 
wifdom from this experience of his own, and the obferva- 
tion of other men's frailty. He feels his own weaknefs, 
and is fo thoroughly av/are of the treachery of his own 
heart, that he is almoft afraid to exprefs in words the 
purpofe which his very foul is forming : he is almoft 
afraid to turn that purpofe into a vow before God, left 
the breach of that vow Ihould increafe his guilt : but this 
he can fay, with repenting Ephraim, Lordy turn thou me^ 
and IJhall be turned ( i ) ; and with David, Hold up my go- 
ings in thy paths, that my foot-Jleps may not Jlip (2). *^ I am 
exceeding frail ; but, Lord, be thou furety for thy fervant 
for good (3), and then I fhall be fafe ! Do thou refcue 
me from tem.ptations, and I fhall be delivered ! Do thou 
fill my heart with holy fentiments, and I w^ill breathe 
them out before thee 1 Do thou excite and maintain a 
zeal for thy fervice, and then I will exert myfelf in it !" 
And when once a man is come to fuch a diftruft of him- 
felf ; wheh,/ii^ a Uttle child, he ftretches out his hand to 
be led by his heavenly Father, and trufts in his guardian 
care alone for his fecurity and comfort ; then out of 
<weahnefs he is inade flrong {4), and goes on fafe though 
perhaps trembling ; and fees thofe that made the loudeft 
boaftsj and placed the greateft confidence in themfelves, 
faU'mg on the right hand and on the left, and all their brave- 
ry melting away like fnow before the fun. 

IV. The regenerate man has new labours and 

EMPLOYiMENTS. 

Not that his former employment in fecular life is laid 
afide : it w^ould ordinarily be a very dangerous fnare for 
a man to imagine that God requires this. On the con- 
trary, the Apoftle gives it in charge to Chriftian converts, 
that in zuhat calling foever a man is found, when he is called 
into the profeffion of the Gofpel, he fhould therein abide with 
God ( 5 ). But when he becomes a real Chriftian he prof- 
ecutes this calling, whatever it be, with a new fpirit and 
temper, from nev/ principles, and to nev/ purpofes. 
While his hands are labouring in the world, his heart is 
often rifxng to God ; he confecrates his work to the Di« 

(i) Ter. xxxl. 18. (i) Pfal xvli. 5. (3) Pf^l.'ciix. IS2> 
(4) Heb. xi.34, (5) I Cor.vii, %Q)^ 24. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 69 

vine honour, and to the credit of religion ; and defires, 
that his merchandife and his gain may^ in this fenfe, he hoU- 
nefs to the Lord ( i ), by employing it to fapport the family 
which Providence has committed to his charge (2), and 
to relieve the poor which Chrift recommends to his pity 
( 3 ) ; and as he depends upon God to give him wifdoni 
and faccefs in the condud of his affairs, he afcribes the 
glory of that fuccefs to him ; not facrificing to hu o'wn neti 
nor burning incenfe to his o^n drag (4). 

And I will further add, that regeneration introduces a 
fet of new labours, added to the former, with which the 
man was before utterly unacquainted. — We may confid- 
er, as the principal and chief of thefe, the great labour 
of purifying the heart, of conquering finful inclinations 
and afFedcions, and of approaching God by a more intl- 
mate accefs and more endeared converfe. Nov/ they that 
imagine this to be an eafy m.atter, know little of the hu- 
man heart, little of the fpirituality of God^s nature, and 
his law. Give me leave to fay, that the labours of the 
body, in cultivating the earth, are much more eafily per- 
formed than this fpiritual hufbandry. To weed a foil 
fo luxuriant in evil produdions, and to raife a plentiful 
harveft of holy affedions and adlions in a foil fo barren 
of good ; to regulate appetites and pallions fo exorbitant 
as thofe of the human heart naturally are, and to awaken 
in it fuitable affedions 5 to be abundant in the fruits of 
righteoufnefs, and to converfe v/ith God in the exercife 
of devotion ; thefe are no little things ; nor will a little 
refolution, watchfulnefs,and adivity fuffice, in order to the 
difcharge of fuch a bufrnefs. It is comparatively eafy 
to go through the forms of prayer and praife, v/hatever 
they are : to read, or from prefent conception to utter, 
a few words before God : but to unite the heart in God's 
fervice, to wreflle with him for a bleiling, to pour out the 
heart before him, to fpeak to him as fearching the very 
heart ; fo that he fnould fay., " This is prayer :" this, my 
brethren, is a work indeed ; and he that is confcientious 
in the difcharge of it will find, that it is not to be dif- 
patched in a few hafly moments, nor without ferious re- 
fle<5lion, and a refolute watch maintained over the fpirit. 

(i) Ifa. xxiH. 1 8. {%) I Tim. v. 8, (3) Ad;s xx. 3|.. 

(4)Hab.i. 16, 



70 SERMON III. 

New labours alfo arife to the regenerate foul, in con- 
fequence of the concern it has to promote religion in the 
world. — Being poffeffed, as I formerly fhevved you the 
heart of the good man is, with an unfeigned love to his 
fellow-creatures, and knowing of how great importance 
religion is to the happinefs of men, he pleads earneftly 
with God for the propagation and fuccefs of the Gofpel : 
and he endeavours, according to his ability and oppor- 
tunity, to promote it ; to promote pure and undefded re- 
liglon in his family and his neighbourhood, even in ail 
around him. And this requires obfervation and appli- 
cation, that this attempt may be prudently conducted, 
and great refolution, in order to its being rendered ef- 
fedluai : it requires great diligence in watching over 
ourfelves, left our examples prove inconfiftent with our 
precepts ; and no fmall degree of courage, confidering 
how averfe the generality of mankind are to admoni- 
tions and reproofs ; in confequence of which, a perfon 
can Jbardly adl the part of a faithful friend, without ex- 
pofmg himfelf to the hazard of being accounted an 
enemy. 

Such are the new labours of the real Chriftian : let 
any man try to perform them, and he will not find them 
light ; but to encourage the attempt, let me further 
add, 

V. That the regenerate foul has its neiv entertain- 
ments too. 

He h?.s pkafu res y which a Ji ranger Intermeddles not <wtth ( i ) 
and which the ivorld C3.n neither give^ nor take anvay (2) *. 
pleafures, which a thoufand times overbalance the mcft 
painful labours, and the moft painful fufFerings too j and 
which, fweetly m.ingling themfelves with the various cir- 
cumftances of life, through which the Chriftian paiTes, 
do, as it were, gild all the fcene, and make all the fa- 
tigues and felf-denial of his life far more agreeable, than 
any of thofe delights the worldling, or the fenfuallft, can 
find in the midft of his unbounded and ftudied indulgen- 
ces. — But here I fhall be in great danger of repeating 
what I faid under a former head, when I was fpeaking 
of the new joys which the Chriftian feels, in confequence 

(i) Prov. xiv, 10. (a) John xvi. az. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 7I 

of the great change that regeneration makes m his foul : 
and therefore, omiting what I then obferved, concerning 
the pleafare of communion with God through Ghrift, 
and of perceiving a work of Divine grace upon the 
foul, I (hall now touch upon fome other fources of ex- 
alted entertamment, which did not fo diredly fall- under 
that head. 

1. The Chriftian finds new pleafures in the word of 
God. 

You know with what rellfh the faints of old fpake of 
it. Thy words were founds fays the Prophet, and I did 
eat them ; and thy word nvas unto me the joy and rejoicing of 
mine heart (i). Thy Jiatutes, fays the Pfalmift, are more 
to be dejired than gold^ yea^ than much fine gold ; they are 
fweeter alfo than honey y and the honey-comb (2). — The 
apoftle Peter beautifully reprefents this, when he exhorts 
the faints to whom he wrote, as new-born babes to deftre 
thefincere milk of the word, that they might grozv thereby (3). 
And the infant that fmiles on the breaft, and with fuch 
eagernefs and delight draws its nourifhment from it, feems 
an amiable image of the humble ChriPcian, who rjm'y^T 
the kingdom of God^ and the word of that kingdom, as a 
little child (4) ; who lays up Scripture In his heart (5:), and 
draws forth the fweetnefs of it, with a firm peiluarion, 
that it is indeed the word of God, and was appointed by 
him for the food of his foul. 

2. He alfo finds new pleafures in the ordinances of Dt^ 
vine worjhlp. 

He \^ glad when it is f aid unto him ^ Let as go Into the hoi f^. 
of the Lord (6).- He indeed efteems the iaharnachs of the 
Lord^ as anilahle, and regards a day In his courts as better than 
a thotfand clicwhtYQ (7). And this pleafure aiifes, not 
merely from any thing peculiar in the adminiftrations of 
this or that man who officiates in holy things ; but from 
the nature of the exercife in general, and from a regard to 
the Divine authority of thofe inftitutions which are there 
obferved. He feels a facred delight in an intercourfe 

(i) Jer. XV. 16. (2) Pfal. xix. 10. (3) i Pet H 2, 

C4) Mark x. 15. (5) Jab xxiu %%, (6) Pfal. ctxii. I. 

(7) Piai. ixxidv. £, 10. 




72 SERMON III. 

\vich God in tliofe folemnities ; in comparifon of which, 
all the graces of compofition and delivery appear as little 
as the harmony of inftruments, or the perfame of incenfe, 
to one of the Old Teftament faints, when compared 
with the light of God^s countenance^ which was lifted up on 
the pious worlhipper under the Mofaic forms, ivhen in 
his temple e'very one fpake of his glory ( i ) , One thing has he 
defred of the Lord', 2ind that he feeks after^ that he may dwell 
in the hoiife of the Lord all the days of his life ; not to amufe 
his vain imagination, not to gratify, his ear, not to in- 
dulge his curiofity with ufclefs inquiries, nor merely to 
exercife his underftanding with fublime fpeculations ; 
but to hehuld the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his tern" 
pie (2). 

3. He likev/ife finds a ne-w entertainment in the converfa" 
tlon of Chriflian friends , 

He now knows v/hat it is to \\'AXt fellow floip with thofe 
whofe commutnon is with the Father, atid nvith his Son Jefus 
Chrift (3). His delight is now in them that are truly the 
excellent of the earth (4). He delights to difmifs the ufual 
topics of mt;>dern converfation, that fome religious fabje<51: 
may be alliimed, not as matter of dilpute, but as matter 
of devout recolle<5lion ; and loves to hear the plaineil 
Chriilian exprefs his experim.ental fenfe of divine things- 
Thofe fentiments of piety and love, v/hich come warm 
from a gracious heart, are ahvays pleafmg to him ; and 
thofe appear the deareO: bands of friendftiip, which may 
draw him nearer to his heavenly Father, and unite his 
foul in ties of more ardent love to his Redeemer. A fo- 
ciety of fuch friends is indeed a kind of anticipation of 
heaven ; and to choofe, and delight in fuch, is no con- 
temptible token, that the foul has attained to fome con- 
fiderable degree of preparation for it. 1 only add, 

VI, That in confequence of all this, the regenerate foul 
has new hopes and prospects. 

Men might be very much afijfted in judging of their 
true ftate, if thef would feriouily reiled: what it is they 
hope and wifh for. What are thofe expedtations and de- 

(1) Pfal. xxix. 9. (2) Vh.l xxvil 4, (3) I Jehu i. 3. 

(4) Pi'al. xvi. 3. ■ 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. 73 

fires that mod flrongly imprefs their minds ? A v?Aa 
mortal, untaught and unchaiiged by Divine grace, is al- 
ways dreffing up to himfelf fome empty phantom of 
earthly happinefs, which he looks after and purfues ; and 
foolilhly imagines, " Could I grafp it, and keep it, I 
Oiould be happy.'' But Divine grace teaches the real 
Chriftian to give up thefe empty fchemes : " God,'' does 
he fay, " never intended this world for my happinefs : he 
will make it tolerable to me ; he will give me fo much 
of it as he fees confiftent with my higheft intereft ; he 
will enable me to derive inftruction, and it may be con- 
folation, out of its difappointments and diftreifes ; but he 
referves my inheritance for the eternal world. I am 
begotten again to a livaly hope by the refurre8\on of j ejus Chnjl 
from the dead, even to the hope of an Inheritance incorruptible^ 
and undejiled^ and that fadeth not away ( i ) *• and though 
it be, for the prefent, referved in heaven^ it is fo fafe, and 
fo great, that it is well worth my waiting for, though 
ever fo long ; for the things that are notfeen^ are eternal (2 ).'* 
And this indeed is the true chara^aer of a good man. 
Eternity fills his thoughts ; and grov/ing fenfible, in 
another manner than he ever was before, of the import- 
ance of it, he pants after the enjoyment of eternal hap- 
pinefs. iVffign any limited duration to his enjoyment 
of God in the regions of glory, and you would over- 
whelm him witli difappointment : talk of hundreds, of 
thoufands, of millions of years, the difrppointnient is al- 
moft equal : periods like thefe feem fcarce diil:ingaiiha- 
ble from each other, when compared with an eternal hope. 
To eternity his deiires and expevflations are raifed ; and he 
can be contented with nothing lefs than eternity ; perfecft 
holinefs, and perfed liappinefs forever and ever, without 
any mixture of fin, or any alloy of forrow ; this he firmly 
expedls, this he ardently breathes after ; a felicity which an 
immortalfoul Ihall never outlive, and which an eternal God 
iliall never ceafe to communicate. This heavenly country 
he feeks ; he confiders himfelf as a citizen of it, and endeav- 
ours to maintain i'ij convafation tliere ( 3 ) ; tocarry on, as 
it were, a daily trade for heaven, and to lay up a treafun 

(0 I Pet. i. 3, 4. (2) z Cor. iv. 18. (3) Fhil. iil. :o* 

G 



74 SERMOM III* 

ihere ( i ) ; in which he may be rich and great, when al! 
the pomp of this earth is paffed away as a dream, and 
all its moft precious metals and gems are melted down 
and conrumc(3 among its vileft materials in the lafl uni- 
ver&l bm'ning. 

This is the change, the glorious change, which regene- 
ration makes in a man's character and views : and who 
Ihall dare to fpeak, or to think contemptibly of it ? Were 
v:e indeed to reprefent it as a kind of charm, depending 
on an external ceremony, which it was the peculiar pre- 
rogative of a certain order of men to perform, and yet 
on which eternal life was fufpended ; one might ealily 
apprehend, that it would be brought into much fufpicion. 
Or fhould we place it in any mechanical tranfports of 
animal nature, in any blind impulfe, in any ftrong feel- 
ings, not to be defcribed, or accounted for, or argued up-' 
on, but known by fome inward inexplicable fenfation to 
be divine ; we could not wonder, if calm and prudent 
men were flow to admit the pretenfion to it, and were 
fearful it might end in the rnoit dangerous enthufiafm, 
made impious by excefGve appearances of piety. — But 
when it is delineated by fuch fair and bright chara<5ters 
as thofe that have now been drawn ; when thefe Divine 
lineaments on the foul, by V'hich it bears die image of 
its Maker's redtitude and fandlity, are confidered as its 
neceffary confequence, or rather as its very eifence ; one 
would imagine, that every rational creature, inftead of 
cavilling at it, fliould pay an immediate homage to it, 
and earneflly defire, and labour, and pray, to experience 
the change : efpecially as it is a change fo defirable for 
itfelf ; as we acknowledge health to be, though a man 
w^ere not to be rewarded for being well : nor punifiied, 
any farther than with the malady he contrads, for any 
negligence in this refpe6l. 

Where is there any thing can be more ornamental t9 
our natures, than to have all the powers of the mind thus 
changed by grace, and om* purfuits directed to fuch ob-» 
jedls as are worthy of the beft attention and regard ? — to 
have our apprehenuons of divine and fpiritual things en- 
larged, and to have right conceptions of the moft iniport- 

(i) Mat., vi. ?o. 



NATURE OF REGENERATION. J ^ 

ant matters ; — to have the ftream of our affecllons turn- 
ed from empty vanities, to objedls that are proper to e:t- 
cite and fix them; — to have our refolutions fet againft 
all fm, and a full purpofe formed within us of an imme- 
diate reformation and return to God, with a dependence 
on his grace to help us both to <ivUl and to do ;~to have 
our labours ftedtaililv applied to conquer fm, and to pro- 
mote religion in ourfelves and others ; — to have our en- 
tertainments founded in a religious life, and flowing in 
upon us from the fweet intercourfe we have with God in 
his word and ordinances, and the delightful converfation 
that we fometimes have with Chriftian friends ; — and fi- 
nally, to have our hopes drawn off from earthly things, 
and fixed upon eternity ? — Where is there any thing can 
be more honourable to us, than thus to be renewed after 
the image of him that created us (i), and to put on the ne-zu 
Plan, avhich after God is created in rlghteoufnefs and true holi- 
nefs (2) ? — And where is any thing that can be more de- 
firable, than thus to have the darknefs of our underftand- 
ings cured, and the diforders redlfied, that fin had 
brought upon our nature ? Who is there that Is fo Infen- 
fibleof his depravity, as that he would not long for iucli 
a happy change ? Or who is tliere that knows how excel- 
lent a work it is, to be transformed hy the renewing of the 
mind (3), that would not, w^ith the greateft thankfulnefs, 
adore the riches of Divine grace, if it appear that he is 
thus become a new creature ; that old things are pajfed away y 
and behold, all things are become new P 

JBut I fhall quickly fliew you, that regeneration is not 
only ornamental, honourable, and ^eiirable, but abfo- 
lutely neceffary, as ever we would hope to fhare the blef- 
fmgs of God^s heavenly kingdom, and to efcape the hor- 
ror of thofe that are finally and irrevocably excluded 
from it. This argument will employ feveral fucceeding 
DIfcqurfes ; but would difmlfs you at prefent with an ear- 
neft requefl, that you would, in the mean time, renew 
your inquiries, as to the truth of regeneration in your 
own fouls ; which, after ail that I have been faying, it 
will be very inexcufable for you to negled, as probably 

(i) Coi. Hi. 10. ('^) Eph. iv^ 24. (3) Rom, xii. 2. 



n 



SERMON in. 



you will hear few difcourfes, in the whole courfe of your 
lives, which centre more directly in this point, or are 
more induftriouily calculated to give you the fafeft and 
elearefl affillance in it. May God abafe the arrogance 
and prefumption of every felf-deceiving finner ; and 
awaken the confidence and joy of the feebleft foul, in 
whom this neW creation is begun ! 



SERMON IV. 



rHE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION, ARGUED FROM 
THE IMMUTABLE CONSTITUTION OF GOD. 



John iiu 3. 

^cffus anfwered and/aid unto him, Verily^ vertly, I fay unto 
thee, except a man he horn again, he cannot fee the kingdom of 
God. 

WHILE the mlnifters of Chrift are difcourfing of 
fuch a fubjed, as I have before me hi the courfe 
of thefe Ledures, and particularly in this branch of them 
T/hich I am now entering upon, we may furely, with the 
iitmoft reafon, addrefs our hearers in thofe w^ords of Mo- 
fes to Ifrael, in the conclufion of his dying difcourfe : 
Set your hearts unto all the ivords ivhich I tejl'ify amcrig you 
this day, ivhtch yefhall command your children to ohferve and 
do, even all the words of this laiv ; for it is not a vain thing 
for you, hecaufe it is your life ( I ). That muft undoubted- 
ly be your life, concerning which the Lord Jefus Chrift 
himfelf, the incarnate v^i^domo^ Godi, the faithful and true 
<ivitnefs (2), has faid, and faid it with a folemn repeated 
affeveration, that without it a 7nan cannot fee the kingdom of 
God. 

The occafion of his faying it deferves our notice : 
though the niceties of the context muft be waved in fuch 

(i) Deut. xxxii. 46, 47- if"^ Rev. iii. 14, 

G 2 ' 



78 



SERMON IV. 



a feries of fermons as this. He faid it to a Jew of con- 
fiderable rank, and, as it appears, one of the grand San- 
hedrim, or chief council of the nation ; who came not 
only for his own private fatisfadtion, but in the name of 
feverai of his brethren, to difcourfe with Chrift concern- 
ing his dodlrine, at the iirfl palfover he attended at Jferu- 
falem, after he had entered on his public miniftry. Our 
Lord would, to be fare, be peculiarly careful what an- 
fwer he returned to fuch an inquiry : and this is his an- 
fwer,,/^r//)', 'verUyj I fay unto thee, except a man be born againt 
he cannot fee the kingdom of God : as if he fhould have faid, 
" If the princes of Ifrael inquire after my charader, let 
them know that I came to b^ a preacher of regeneration ; 
and that the bleffings of that kingdom which I am come 
to reveal and eredl:, are to be peculiar to renewed and 
fandiiied fouls ; who may, by an eafy and natural figure, 
be faid to be horn again.^' And the figure appears very 
intelligible, and very inftrudlive to thofe that will feri- 
ouily confider it ; and might lead us into a variety of 
pertinent and ufeful remarks. 

You eafily perceive, that to be born again muft inti- 
mate a very great change ; coming, as it were, into a 
r.cw world, as an infant does ; when after having lived 
a while a kind of vegetative life in the darknefs and con- 
fiPxement of the womb, it is born into open day ; feels 
the vital air rufhing in on its lungs, and light forcing it- 
felf upon the awakened eyes ; hears founds before un- 
known ; opens its mouth to receive a yet untafted food, 
and every day becomes acquainted with new objeds, and 
exerts new powers, till it grows up to the maturity of a 
perfedi: man. Such, and in fom.e refpeds greater and 
nobler than this, is the change which regeneration makes 
in a heart, before unacquainted with religion : as you 
may have feen at large from the preceding difcourfes. 

But I might further obferve, that the phrafe in the 
text may alfo exprefs the humbling nature of this change^ 
as well as the greatnefs of it. Erafmus gives this turn 
to the words ; and it is fo edifying, that I fhould have 
mentioned it at leaft, though T had not thought itfojuft, 
as it appears. To be born agahiy mufi: figniiy to become as 
« little ch'dd ( I ) 5 and our Lord exprefsly and frequently 
(i) Mat. xviii. 3. 



NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 79 

afltires us, that without this *W€ cannot enter into the ktng^ 
dofn of heaven ( i ). He has 'pronounced the very iirft of 
his bleffings on/><?"u^r(y of fplrit (2) ; and where this is 
wantlngj the foul will never be entitled to the reft. A 
mild and humble, a docile and tradable temper, a free- 
dom from avarice and ambition, and an indifference to 
thofe great toys of which men are generally fo fond, are 
all effential parts of the Chriftian charader ; and they 
have all, in one view or another, been touched upon in 
the preceding difcourfes. Let it be forgiven however, 
if confidering the importance of the cafe, you are told 
again, that in malice yemvji be children ( 3 ) ; and that if any 
man think himfclf "wife^ he mujt become a child, and even zfcol^ 
that he may be wife indeed (4). 

I might obferve once more, that thefe words intimate 
the divine power, by which this great and hambling 
thange is effeded. Our firft formation and birth is the 
ttrork of God, and no lefs really fo in the fucceeding 
generations of men, than the iirft produdion of Adam 
was, when God formed him of the dufl of the earth » andlreatb- 
td into his noflrils the breath of life (5). We may each of 
Bs. fay, with refpedl to the natural birth, and in an accom- 
modated fenfe with refped to th^ fpiritual too, thine eyes 
did fee my fubflance, being as yet imperfeB^ and in thy book all 
fny members^ which in continuance of time were fajhioned^ were 
written f when as yet there was none of them (6). All the 
Iirft gracious impreffions that were made upon the mind, 
and all the gradual advances of them, till Chrift was 
formed in the heart, and the new creature animated, muft 
(as I fnall hereafter fhew at large) be ultimately and 
principally referred into a divine operation ; and in 
this fenfe, it is God that brings every good purpofe in 
the mind to the birth, and God that gives flrength to bring 
forth (7). 

But I omit the farther profecution of thefe remarks at 
prefent, becaufe they coincide with what I have fald in 
former difcourfes, or what will occur in thofe which are 
yet to come : and fhall only further confider the words, 

(i) Mark x. 15. Luke xviii. 17. (2) Mat. v. ^. 

(3) 1 Cor, xiv. 20. (4) I Cor. lii. 18. (5) Gs-o. ii. 7, 
(6) Pfai. cxx:six. 16. (7) Ifa. kvi. 9. 



8d SERMON 1\\ 

as they are a confirmation of, and therefore a proper in- 
trodudllon to, what I am to lay before you under the 
third general head of thefe difcourfes ; in which (as I 
have ah^eady fliewn, who may be faid to be in an unre* 
generate ftate, and how great that change is which re- 
generation makes in the foul) I ftiall now proceed, 

Thirdly, To fhew the high importance, yea, the abfo- 
lutc neceffity of this change. 

Our Lord expreffes it in a very lively and awakening 
manner, in thefe few determinate words, which are here 
before us : Ferily, verily, I fay unto thee, except a man he 
lorn again, he cannot fee the kingdom of God, You fee how 
emphatical the words are : he who is himfelf invariable 
truth, the fame yefter day, to-day, and forever (i), repeats it 
again and again, with as much folemnity as he ever ufes 
upon any occafion ; repeats it to us, as he did to Nico- 
demus, " Verily, verily, I fay unto you, that is, I ferioufly 
deliver it as a truth of infinite moment ; except a many 
i. e. any man, whatever his profeflion, whatever 
his knowledge, cr whatever his privileges, may be ; 
though he be a Jew, though he be a Pharifee, though he 
be, as thou Nicodemus art, a ruler or a fenator ; except 
he he lorn again, and have that great change, fc often de- 
fcribed in the word of God, v/rought by the operation 
of the Spirit in his mind, he cannot fee the kingdom of God : 
he cannot by any means approach it, fo as to enter into 
it, or have any fnare in the important bleffings which it 
contains.'^ 

That we may more fully underftand, and enter into 
this weighty argument, I fnail from thefe words, 

I. Briefly confider, what it is toy^^ the kingdom of God* 

II. Shew hov/ abfolutely impoffible it is, that any 
unregenerate man fhouldy^^ it. And, 

III. How wretched a thing it is to be deprived of 
the fight and enjoyment of it. 

And I am well perfuaded, that if you diligently at- 
tend to thefe things, you will be inwardly and powerfully 

(i) Hcb. zlli. 8. 



NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 81 

convinced, that no argument could be more proper to 
demonftrate the importance and necejjtty of Regeneration^ 
than this, which our Lord has fuggefted in thefe awful, 
emphaticalj and comprehenlive words. 

I. I am to fliew you what it is to^^^ the kingdom of God, 

And for the explication of it, it will be neceiTary to 
confider — what we are to underftand by this kingdom ;-»— 
and what is meant hj feeing it. 

[i]. I w^ould Ihew you what we are to underftand by 
the kingdom of God^ 

And you will pardon me if I ftate the matter pretty 
largely ; becaufe the phrafe is ufed in fcripture in differ- 
ent fenfes ; and the true interpretation of many paffages 
in it depends on a proper diilindtion between them. 
You may obferve then, for the explication of this phrafe, 
that the kingdom of God in general fignifies, " the fo- 
ciety of thofe, who profefs themfelves tlie fervants and 
fubjefts of Chrift ;" and in confequence of this, that 
there are fome paffages, in which it peculiarly relates to 
**the imperfe(5l difpenfation of this kingdom, and the 
beginning of it in the world ;" and others, in which it 
relates to *nhe more perfedl form, which this fociety is 
to bear in the world of glory." 

I. The kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, (for 
they are fynonymous phrafes) does in the general fig- 
nify " the fociety of thofe, who profefs themfelves the 
fervants and fubjeds of Chrift.'' 

You well know this was a phrafe ufed among the 
Jews ; and therefore the original of it is to be traced 
from the Old Teftament ; and I apprehend it to be this : 
Almoft every Chriftian is aware, that in the early days 
of the Jewiilk commonwealth, as Samuel with great pro- 
priety expreffes it, God ivas their king (i). Jehovah was 
not only the great objed of their religious regard, as 
the creator and fupporter of the whole world ; but he 
was alfo their fupreme civil magiftrate, fettling the forms 
of their political government, and referviiig to himfelf 
fome of the chief ads of royal authority. They did in- 

(i) X 3am. xii. 1%. 



it SERMON IV. 

deed afterwards tl^^^re another hng\ like the other nations 
round about them (i). But ftill thofe kings, being ap- 
pointed by God, were indeed to be looked upon as no 
ether than his vicegerents, though another kind of gov- 
crnors than he had originally inftituted. • By degrees 
their peculiar regard to tlie civil authority of God 
among them, as vrell as to his religious authority, which 
was nearly conne<5i:ed with it, in a great meafure wore 
out ; and their government v/ent through a great many 
diiFerent forms, Vv'hich it would be unneceilary here par- 
ticularly to defcribe. Neverthelefs, God was pleafed to 
declare by king David, and by many others of his holy 
prophets, that he would in due time interpofe to eredl 
another, and a far more extenfive kingdom in the world ; 
not indeed upon the fame political principles with that 
which he exercifed over the Jews ; which principles 
Vt'ould by no means have fuited this extenfive d^{ign ; 
but it fliould be a kingdom in vrhich the authority of 
tiie God of heaien Ihould be acknowledged, and his laws 
of univerfal righteoufnefs obferved with greater care, 
and to nobler purpofes, as well as by a vaftly greater 
number of fubjed:s than ever before. This kingdom he 
determined to commit to the government of the Mefliah, 
who, with regard to this was called the Lord*s anointed^ 
his king avhom he Jtt upon his holy hill of Zton ( 2 ) ; and to 
whom indeed he would give all power ^ not only on earthy 
but In heaven too ( 3 ) ; fo that having trained up his fub- 
jeds here, in the difcipline of holinefs and obedience, he 
ihould at length tranflate them to another and a better 
country^ that is, a heavenly, where they Ihould y^^ his glory y 
and fhould reign ivlth him in eternal life. 

This plainly appears from the whole tenor of the Old 
and New Teflament, to have been the grand plan of God, 
with refpe^l to the Mefliah's kingdom : and you will 
eafily fee, that coming from God as its great author, 
and referring to him as its end, it may, with great pro- 
priety, be called the kingdom of God ; and ultimately ter- 
minating in the heavenly ftate, it may alfo properly 
be called the kingdom of heaven. Thefe were phrafes, 
which prevailed in the Jewilh nation, before Chtift, or 

(i) I Sam. viii. 5. (2) Pfal ii. 2, 6. (3) Mat. xxviii. I?. 



NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 8^ 

his immediate fore-runner appeared ; and indeed tht y 
were ufed by Daniel in a very remarkable manner, 
which probably made them fo familiar to the Jews, who 
had fome peculiar reafons for ftudying his writings, even 
more than thofe of fome other prophets. After that 
prophet had foretold the rife and fall of feveral great 
empires of the world, he adds, and hi the days of thefe lad 
kings (i. e. of the Y\.QTCi2.ns) Jhall the God of Heanjen Jet up a 
kingdom which fhall not he dejlroyedy — hit Jh all fand forever 
( I ). And the perfon whom the Ancient of Days^ i. e. the 
eternal and ever bleffed God fliould fix on the throne of 
this kingdom^ from his appearing in the human nature, is 
called the f on of man (2) ; If aw In the night vfions, and bc'^ 
hold^ one llhe thefon of man, came with the clouds of heaven^ 
and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near be^ 
fore him ; and there wcu given him dominion j and glory, and a 
kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, Jloould fcrve 
him : his dominion Is an everlafllng dominion, which Jloall not 
pafs away, and his kingdom that which fJo all not he dejlroyed* 

In allufion to this, when our Lord Jefus Chrifi: appear- 
ed, he called \x\vci{t\{ the fun of man ; and he particularly 
ufed this phrafe, and it was exceedingly proper that he 
fhould, in this conference with Nicodemus, again and 
again (3). And all thofe v/ho, being convinced of the 
divine commiflion he bore, fubmitted themfelves to him, 
might in this refpedl be faid, to enter into the kmgclom of 
God, or of heaven ; that is, into the fociely which had fo 
long been foretold and expelled under that title. Thh 
kingdom, as the above mentioned prophecy declared, was 
to be raifed from very low beginnings, and under the 
perfonal miniftry of Chrift and his Apoflles, till at laft It 
fliould, extend through very didant regions of the world, 
and kings and princes iliould fubmit themfelves to it, and 
reckon it their glory to enrol themfelves among his fub- 
jc^s. 

Agreeable to this meaning of the phrafe, and to this 
view with refpecl to the eflabllQimeut of his kingdom, our 
Lord opened his miniftry with preaching, as John the 
Baptift had done, the kingdom of heaven (4). And you 

(1} Daij ii. 44. (i^ Dau. vil. 13, 14. (3) John Hi. 13, 14. 

(4) M;it. iii z. Iv. 17. 



84 SERMON IV. 

will fee, that in moft places of the Gofpel, where th« 
phrafe occurs, it is to be taken in this fenfe. Thus our 
Lord fays, Bkjfed are the poor infptrit; for theirs is the king^ 
dom of hea'ven ( I ) ; i. e. they are fit to be members of 
tliis fociety, and to receive the bleffings of it» Seek frjl 
the kingdom of Gody and his righteoufnefs (2) ; i. e, labour to 
ferve the intercft of this fociety that I am eredling, and 
to obtain and promote that righteoufnefs which it rec- 
ommends, and is intended to eftablilh in the world. 
And again, Suffer litile children to come unto me^ and forbid 
them not ; for of fuch is the kingdom of God ( 3 ) : perfons 
with fuch a difpofition are moft fit to become my fub* 
je<5ls, and to enter into this holy and fpiritual fociety. 
And when our Lord fays to the Pharifees, Publicans and 
harlots go into the kingdom of God before you (4) ; he 
means, no doubt, they are more ready than you to join 
themfeives to the fociety of thofe who profefs themfelves 
my iubjedls. And once more, when he fpeaks of fome 
who chofe the fe verities of a iingle life, that with lefs en- 
tanglements they might ferve the interefts of his church, 
he expreifes it, by their making themfcl'ves eunuchs^ for the 
kingdom of heavjcn'* s fake (5). 

I fhall only add, that the phrafe, by a near connexion 
with this fenfe, fometimes fignlfies the charter of this focie- 
tyy or the privileges which it affords to its members ; as 
when our Lord fays, JVhofoever Jloall not receive the kifigdcm 
of God as a little child, fJjall in no 'UL'ife enter therein (6). 

This then is the general fenfe of this phrafe : it figni- 
fies " the fociety of thofe who fhould fubmit themfelves 
to the government of Chrift, as appointed by God to 
rule over them ; who aYe thereby to be confidered as 
God's people and fubjecls.*' In confequence of this you 
will eailly apprehend, 

2. That it comprehends " the more imperfe(5l difpen* 
fation, under which the mem.bers of this fociety are, du- 
ring their abode in the prefent world/' 

All that paifes here is indeed but the opening o^ 
Chrift's kingdom : neverthelefs, the phrafe does fome- 
times more particularly refer to this opening ; and there 

(i) Mat. V. 3. (2) Mat. vi. 33, (3) Luke xviii. 16. 

(4) Mark xxi. 31. (5) Mat. xix» iz. (6) Luke xviii. 17. 



NECESSITY GF REGENERATION. S^ 

pre feveral paffages, in which it v/ould be apparently 
abfurd to fuppofe it comprehended the glories of the in- 
vifible ftate, to which Chriil intended finally to conduft 
bis faithful fervants. Thus our Lord tells the Pharifees, 
The kingdom of God is come unto you ( i )? i. e. that gracious 
difpenfation under the Meffiah, by which God is gather- 
ing fubjeds to his Son. And elfewhere he fays to them, 
The kingdom of God Cometh not with ohfervation^ i. e. not 
with fuch outward fhew and grandeur as you expert ; 
but behold it is ivithin^ or (as it might be rendered) among 
you (2) ; God has begun to open and eftablifh it, though 
you know it not ; and has adually brought many poor 
iinners into it, whom you proudly deride as ignorant 
and accurfed. Thus alfo, when our Lord fays to Peter, 
/ 10 ill give unto thee the keys of the kingdom cf heaven (3), it 
would be mo it abfurd to fuppofe, he meant to grant to 
him the power of admitting into, or excluding from, the 
world of glory : but the plain meaning is, that he 
fliould bear a dillinguifhed office in the church upon 
earth, and be the means of admitting Jews and Gentiles 
into it. Here, as in many other inflances, the k-ingdom 
of God, or of heaven, means much the fame with the pro- 
leffing church of Chrifl, during its fettlement in this 
imperfed ilate : as it undoubtedly does, when Chrlit 
threatens his hearers, that the kingdom of God Jhould he 
taken away from them (4) : and when he reprefents it as 
confilling of good and had{^), of tares and wheat (6) ; 
but declares, that at the lail day he will gather out of 
his kingdom all things that offend^ and them that do iniquity ( 7 ) ; 
whereas nothing of that kind fhall <iver enter into the 
kingdom of glory. But yet, 

3, It ultimately relates to " the more perfect form 
and ftate of this fociety in the kingdom of glory." 

You very well know, that the defign of God in his 
Gofpel was not to eftablifh a temporal kingdom, as the 
Jews expeded: nor merely to form a body of men, who 
fliould live upon earth with fome peculiar forms of wor- 

(l) Mat. xli. a8. {i) Luke xvii. zo, ai. (f, Mat. xvj. T9, 

(4) Mat.xxi, 43. . (j) Mat. xlii. 48. (6) Ver. 25, 

(7) Mat. xiii. 41, 

H 



86 SERMON iV. 

fiiip, under very excellent rules, and with diftmgulfhed 
privileges of a fpiritual nature ; but that all thefe ulti- 
mately referred to the invifible world. Thither the fon 
of man was removed, when he had finifhed the fcenes of 
his labour and fufferings upon* earth ; and thither all 
the true and faithful members of the kingdom were foon- 
er or later to be brought, and there were to have their 
final fettlement and everlafting abode, in a far more 
fplendid and happy ftate, than the greateft monarch on 
earth has ever known : they Ihall there, as the Apoftle 
moft properly exprelTes it, retgn in life by Jefus Chrlfl ( i ). 
Now as the kingdom of God upon earth is to be confid- 
ered with a leading view to this ; fo we fometimes find, 
that this glorious ftate of its members, or (which will 
come much to tlie fame thing) the fociety of the faithful 
in this glorious ftate, is, by way of eminence, called the 
kingdom of God : and with regard to this, they whofe 
characSters are fuch that they fhall be excluded from 
thence, are reprefented as having no part in the iin^dom of 
leaven, though they have been by profeffion members of 
the church of Chrift on earth. Of this you have a re- 
markable inftance, where our Lord fays, Not every one 
that faith unto me, Lord, Lord, fhall enter into the kingdom of 
heaven .• but he that doth the <wiJl cf my Father ivhich is in 
heaven (2) : now it was calling Chriit, Lord, or profef- 
fmg a regard to him as a divine teacher and governor, 
which was the va-y circumftance that diftinguiftied the 
members of his kingdom on earth from the reft of man- 
kind : yet as they v/ho do this infmcerely fhall be ex- 
cluded from final glory, it is faid, they /hall not enter into 
the kingdom of heaven. — So alfo the x^poftle tells us, that 
fefh and blood, i. e. fuch grofs machines of animal nature 
as thofe in which we now dwell, cannot inherit the kingdom 
of God ( 3 ) ; they cannot dwell in fo pure a region ; and 
therefore it is necefTary, that before they enter upon it, 
thofe who are found alive at the illuftrious day of Chrift's 
appearance, ftiould undergo a miraculous change to fit 
them for fuch an abode. — In reference to this we are 
likev^fe told, that then, i. e. at the great refurre6lion-day, 
the righteous flmll f bine forth as the fun in the kingdom of their 

•■■••' , j 

(i) Rom. v.'x7. (z) Mat. rii. ai. (3) I Cor. rv. 50. 



NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 87 

Father ( i ). — And this is what our Lord moft certainly 
had in view, when he tells the impenitept Jews, that 
there fiouid be ^weeping and gnajhtng of teeth ^ when they fiould 
fee Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the 
kingdom of God, and they then f elves thrujl out ( 2 ) ; which 
could not be meant of the privileges of the Chriftian 
church upon earth, in which the patriarchs had no Riare ; 
nor did the Jews at all envy thofe profeffing Chriftians, 
who mofl: evidently had : it mud undoubtedly ^therefore 
be numbered among thofe pallliges, in which the kingdom 
of heaven chiefly refers to the ftate of glory. And I 
apprehend, the text here before us may be added to that 
catalogue ; which leads us to fhew, 

2. What we are to under ft and hj feeing the kingdom of 
Cod. 

Now, in general, you will eafily apprehend, that to fee 
the kingdom is to enjoy the bleffings of it. — There is no 
need or enumerating many paiTages of Scripture, v/here 
to fee properly fignifies to enjoy. This is apparently the 
fenfe of it, when Chrift declares, Blejfed are the pure In 
hearty for they Jhall fee God {7^)1 for the Deity cannot be 
the objed of fight ; but the promife is, that fuch fouls, 
(oh that we may be in their number !) fhall forever en- 
joy the moft delightful communications from him. And 
thus again we are to underftand it, where it is faid, 
What man is he that dejtreth life, and loveth many days, that 
he may fee, i. e. that he may enjoy good (4) ? For other- 
wife, to fee it without enjoying it, would be a great ag- 
gravation of mifery and diftrefs. And in this fenfe it is 
moft evident, xh-M feeing the kingdom of God vau^ here be 
put, for enjoying the chief and moft important blefflngs 
appropriated to this happy ftate ; becaufe, as I havejuft 
been obferving, condemned fmners are reprefented in 
another fenfe, as feeing that kingdom and the glorified 
fcints in it ; but viewing it only at an unapproachable dif- 
tance,as a fpecflacle that fills them with horror and defpair. 

This therefore is, upon the whole, the meaning of this 
pafFage : " That no unregenerate foul fhall finally have 
any part in the glory and happinefs, which Chrift has 

(i) Mat. xiii. 43. (a) Luke xiii. a8. (3) Mat, v. 8. 
(4) Pfalm xxxiv, 1%^ 



88 SERMON IV. 

prepared for his faithful fubje6ls ; nor can any that ap- 
pear to be fuch, according to the tenor and conftitution 
of the gofpel, be admitted into the number even of pro- 
feffing Chriftlans.'' It is true indeed, a man may ap- 
pear under fuch a dlfguife, that thofe who are in this 
fenfe the Jie wards of the myjleries of God (l), may, in the 
judgment of charity, be obliged to think well of him, 
and to admit him ; but Chrift, who intimately knows 
him, does even now difcern him. The prefent external 
privileges he enjoys, are fuch as he has no juft right to ; 
and in a little time, Chriil wnil root him out of this king- 
dom with a vengeance, and he fhall be openly declared a 
rebel, and one whom the Lord of it neiier kneiu^ or never 
approved (2). So that upon the whole, it is fo little a 
part that he had in the kingdom, and that for fo fhort a 
time, that it may, in the free language of Scripture, be 
faid, that he h.^s never feen the kingdom of God at all ; that 
he has neither part nor lot in this matter (3), has no partr 
^ath God's chofen, nor any lot with his inheritance. 

Having thus largely explained the meaning of thiS= 
phrafe, I nov^? proceed, 

11. To fhew you how certain this declaration of our 
Lord in the text is, or how abfolutely impoffible it is, that 
any unregenerate man fhould thusy^^ the kingdom of God^ 

Now this I fhall argue, partly ** from the Immutable 
eonftltution of Gcd, v/hofe kingdom it is ;'' and partly 
*' from the nature of lis bleffings, which are fuch, that no 
unregenerate man, v/hile he continues in that ftate, can 
have any fitnefs or capacity to enjoy them." 

The firfl: of thefe confiderations is copious and import- 
ant enough, to furnilh out abundant matter for the re- 
mainder of this difcourfe : and it v/ill be difficult to dif-^ 
patch it within thefe limits. 

[i.] The impoffibility there is, that any unregenerate^ 
man ftiould enter Into the kingdom f God, appears^" from 
the immutable conHitution of that God, whofe kingdom 
it is." 

This might be fufficiently argued, from the exprefs and 
emphatical v/ords of our Lord Jefus Chrift in the text. 

(i) I Ccr. iv. 1. {i) Mat. v'll'r^;^ (3) Ads viii. ax. 



NECESSITY CF REGEKERATION. 89 

Tor he bore his Father's commlffion to preach the gofpel 
vfthe kingdom^ to publifh the good news of its ere<5llon and 
faccefs, and likewife to declare its nature, and the meth- 
od of admittance into it. And he is himfelf the great 
Sovereign of that kingdom ; and confequently cannot 
but perfecllv, and beyond all comparifon with any other, 
know the whole of its conftitution. But God has re- 
peated the declaration by him, and by his other meflen-*^ 
gers to the children of men, in diiFerent ages, and under 
different difpenfations, in fuch a manner as fuited its in- 
finite Importance. And, therefore, for the further illuf* 
tration of the argument, I fhall enumerate a great varie- 
ty of fcriptures that fpeak the fame language; not fo 
much aiming therein at the fpeculative proof of the pointy 
as attempting to imprefs the confciences of my hearers 
with a fenfe of its certainty ; and humbly hoping that 
fome of thoffe fharp-pointed arrows, which I am now 
drawing out of the quiver of God, may, by the diredioa 
of his Spirit, enter the reins of fome again ft whom they 
are levelled (i), and convince them of the abfolute ne» 
ceffity of an entire change in their hearts, as well as 
their lives, or of the vanity of all thofe hopes which they 
entertain, while that change is wanting. And let me 
befpeak your attention, not to the conjectures or reafon- 
ing of a frail mortal man, but to the folemn admonitions 
and declarations of the eternal God ; and be affured 
that in one fenfe or another, his word Jh all take hold on 
yoUi as it has done on finners of former generations, either 
for conviction, or condemnation. 

That I may not be confounded in the multiplicity of 
my proofs, 1 fhall range them under thefe three dlftin(fl 
heads. — ThQ ^pr ophets o£i\iq Old Teftament were commif- 
fioned to niake this declaration : — it was renewed by the 
preaching of Chrt/l ; — and was fupported by the tefti- 
mony of the Apojlles under the infpiration of the Holy 
Spirit. 

J. ThQ prophets of the Old Teftament were comniif« 
/^oned in effed to make this declaration, that no unreg^ix- 
€rate flnners fhould enter the kingdom of God, 

(i) Lam, III, 3, 

H z 



9^ SERMON IV. 

Well might our Lord fay to Nicodemus, art thou a 
teacher in Ifraely and knoiuejl not thefe things ? For to this 
in elFedl all the prophets hear witnefs^ and it might be learn- 
ed from almoil every page of their writings. It is true 
the particular phrafe of being horn again^ or regeneraied^ 
does not occur there ; nor is it exprefsly faid, that an un- 
regenerate man (hall not be admitted into God's king- 
dom. But then the prophets every where aflert, what is 
in elFe<5]: the fame, that no wicked man, who does not 
heartily repent of his fms, and turn from them to God, 
muft expe<5t the Divine favour. Now if you confider 
what we mean .by an unregenerate man, according to 
the defcription I have given before, you will find it is 
juft the fame as an impenitent fmner : and if it be dc« 
clared that fuch are not to exped the Divine favour, 
nay, that they muft certainly prove the objeds of his 
difpleafure, this muft certainly imply an exclufion from 
his kingdom, and muft intend a great deal more than be- 
ing deprived of everlafting happinefs. And thus you 
fee that all thofe Scriptures, which fpeak of the irrecon- 
cileable hatred of God againft fin, and againft all impeni- 
tent finners, come in to do fervice here, and are equiva* 
lent to the declaration in the text. And I may here- 
after fhew you, that there are many Scriptures in the 
Old Teftament which lead men to confider that change^ 
faid to be fo neceffary, as what muft be effeded by a 
Divine operation on their fouls. But as that will 
more properly come in under a following head, I fiiall 
at prefent content myfelf with feleding a few Scriptures, 
as a fpecimen of many hundred more, in proof of the 
main point before us ; and I befeech you that you would 
endeavour to enter, not only into tliQ fen/e, but into the 
Jpirit of them. 

You well know that unregenerate finners are wicked 
men ; and of fuch it is faid, God is angry ivith the nvicked 
every day { I ) ; or all the daylong^ as the original imports. 
The finner lies down and rifes up, goes out and comes 
in, under the Divine difpleafure : and though with great 
patience God bears with him for a while, he is defcribed 
as preparing his dreadful artillery againft Iiim, to fmite 

(i)Pfalm vii. IX, 



NECESSITY or REGENERATION. 9! 

him even with a mortal wound : fo far will he be from 
admitting him into his kingdom, that as it is there add- 
ed, if he turn not he will whet his /word ; he has bent his bow 
and made it ready ; he has alfo prepared for him the injlru* 
ments of death {i). And in another place, he defcribes- 
the dreadful confequence of that preparation in moft 
lively terms : If I whet my glittering fwordj and my hand 
take hold on judgment^ I will render 'vengeance to mine enemies^ 
and will reward them that hate me : I will make mine arrowt 
drunk with bloody and myfwordjball devour Jlejh from the be* 
ginning of revenges on the enemy ; i. e. as foon as I begin 
this awful work (2), And elfewhere he compares the 
deftruftion which he will bring upon finners at laft, to 
that which he executed on Sodom and Gomorrah, when 
he fcattered fire and brimftone on their habitations, and 
reduced their pleafant country to a burning lake ; Upon 
the wicked he will rain fnaresj fire and brim/lone, and an hor-^ 
rible tempefi : this will be the portion of their cup (3) ; and 
oh, how unlike the ftate and abode of thofe who are the 
happy fubjeds of his kingdom. 

None of the prophets fpeak in milder and more gentle 
language to returning penitents than Ifaiah ; yet he de« 
clares, there is no peace^ faith my God, to the wicked (4). 
Yea, he does as it were, call in the concurrence of all 
who feared God, and who loved their country, to echo 
back and enforce the admonition : fay ye to the righteous 
that itjhallbe well with him ; but on the other hand, wq 
to the wicked^ ttfhall be ill with him ; for the reward of his 
hands fhall be given him ( 5 )• 

The enumeration would be endlefs ; and it would re* 
quire more than the time of a whole difcourfe, only to 
read over, without any comment or remark, one half of 
the paflUges which might properly be introduced on this 
occafion. I will therefore only mention two more, 
which, though fome of you may hear with indifference, 
I confefs I cannot read without a very fenfible inward 
commotion. 

The one is that pafTage in the Mofaic law, where God 
dire<fts his fervant to fay, If there be among you a root that 

(1) Pfaira vii. \%^ 13. (2) Deut xxxii. 41,4^, 1(3) PfaL lui. 6» 
(4) Ka. hii. ai, (5) Ifa, iii, 10,11. 



9^ SERMON vr* 

beareth gall and wormwood, or any unregenerate foul, w^t 
when he hears the words of this curfe,JIoall hlefs htm/elf in h'lT 
heart., faying, I fhall have peace though I walk in the imagina^ 
tion of mtne heart, to add drunkennefs to thirjl, and run into 
one debauchery and £\n after another: The Lord will 
not f pare him, hut the anger of the Lord, and his jealoufy Jloall 
fmoke and be inflamed againfi that man ; — and the Lord 
Jhall feparate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Ifrael, accord* 
ing to all the curfes of the covenant, that are written in the 
book of the law ( i ). There is a terrible emphafis of which 
we cannot but take notice here: God declares, that if 
among all the thoufands of Ifrael, there was hut one fuch pre- 
fumptuous finner, tliat thus^^/i?r^//;^i;77/^//'m /^^ way of 
his own heart, he would make a terrible example of him, 
2Xidi feparate that one man to evil, out of thoufands and ten 
thoufands of his faithful and obedient fervants. 

This therefore is a pafTage full of apparent terror : the 
©ther is indeed a language of mercy ; but it contains a 
moft awful infmuation, which appears, as good Arch- 
bifliop Tillotfon exprelfes it, ** like a ra^ior fet in oil, which 
wounds with fo much the keener edge." As I live, faith 
the Lord God, I have no pie afure in the death of the wicked^ 
hut that the wicked turn from his way and live ; turn ye^ turn 
ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, houfe ofif 
rael (2) ? thereby plainly intimating, that notwithftand- 
ing all that gentlenefs of the Divine nature, which he 
expreffes in a moft tender invitation, which he confirms 
even with the folemnity of an oath ; yet, if fmners did 
not turn from their evil way Sy xh^ro, w^as no remedy, but 
they mull: die for it. 

And how, Sirs, will any of you that continue in an 
unregenerate ft ate, arm yourleives againft thefe terrors I 
Is it by faying, " that thefe are the thunders of Mount 
Sinai ; that thefe are denunciations of the Old Tefta- 
ment ; whereas the New fpeaks in milder language ?'* 
You may eafily know the contrary ; and to this purpofe 
I am further to ftiew you, 

2. That this declaration was renewed by the preaching 

oiChr'ifl. - 

(i) Deut. xxijf. 18 — Zf. fi) Ezck, xxxiii, 11. 



NECESSITY OF REGENERATIOK. 93 

It is true indeedj that grace and truth came ly Jefus 
Chrijl ( I ) : jet all the grace and gentlenefs of that ad- 
miniftration he brought did not contradi<ft thofe av/ful 
threatenings ; nay, it obliged him to fet them in a ftrong- 
cr light. — He prefently repeats to Nicodemus what he 
had jufl before aiTerted in the text, and declares, Verily^ 
*verllyy I fay unto thee^ except a man he horn of water ^ and of 
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (2) ; i. e. 
" As he mud be baptized with water, in order to a regu- 
lar entrance into the fociety of my people, fo he mud al- 
fo be fandlified and transformed by the cleanfmg and re- 
newing influences of the Spirit, fignified by the water 
there ufed, or he can have no part in the blellings which 
my gofpel brings.'' — And that this muft produce an 
univerfal change in the life as well as the heart, and a 
faithful fubjedtion to the will of God, v. ithout which no 
profeilion w^ll Hand a man in any ftead, our Lord 
iblemnly declares in the conclufion of his incomparable 
difcourfe on the Mount : Not e^very one that faith tmia me^ 
Lardy Lordy fa all enter into the kingdom of heaven ; hut he that 
doth the will of my Father ivho is in heaven : many will fay 
to me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophefed in thy 
name, and in thy name cafl out devils, and in thy name done 
many wonderful works P yind then will I prafefs unto tf:}Ctn^ 
I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity (3), 
And fhall you, Sirs, merely for having a name 2.n^ place 
in his houfe, efcape ; when thofe that have preached his 
gofpel, and wrought miracles in confirmation of it, when 
thofe that perfonally converfed with Chri/l, and thofe that 
minifiered unto hiin Ihall periOi, if deftitute of a holy tem- 
per of heart, and of its folid fruit in their lives ? — Has 
not our Lord exprefsly faid, that he will gather out of his 
kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity ; and 
will cafl them into a furnace of fire ; there Jh all he wailing 
and gnqfhing of teeth (4) ? — Nay, in his infinite compaffion, 
he has given to fmners, as it were, a copy of the fentence 
that will another day be pronounced upon them ; that 
they may meditate upon it, and review it, and judge 
whether they can bear the terror of its execution : hear 

(i) John i. 17. ^ (2) John iii. 5. (3) Mat. vii. ai, iis, 33, 
(4) Mat. xiii. 41 , 4^, 



94 SERMON ir. 

It attentirelj, and then fay whether unregenerate fmiKri 
fhall enter into his khigdom. The dreadful doom is tliis ; 
Depart from me, ye curfed. Into everlajllng jire^ prepared for 
the devil and his angels (i). And what now will you 
fay to this ? Can any foul of you imagine, tliat the Lord 
Jefus Chrift did not know what would pafs in this day in 
which he is appointed to prefide ? or that knowing it, and 
knowing it would be fomethlng different from this, he 
would, on any confideraticn whatfoever, make a falfe rep- 
refentation,and lay fo much ftrefs upon it ? Yet one or other 
of thefe things you mud fecretly imagine ; or muftown, 
that every unregenerate fmner, and you am.ong the reft, 
muft not only be excluded from his prefence, but be con- 
demned to fuifer all the fur^/ of his wrath, in company 
with devils and damned fpirits, in final darknefs and 
everlafting burnings. It only remains that I fhew you, 

3. That the fame teftimony was renewed by the u^pof-^ 
ths^ under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

You know that they \\:^re authorized by theu: Great 
Mafter to declare, in an authentic manner, the conftitu- 
tion of his kingdom ; and that he nvho defpifes them, de^ 
fpifes Chrift (2). Now I would fain perfuade you all, to 
confider this argument as it lies in Scripture ; to read 
over the epiftoiary parts of the New Teftament in this 
view, to obferve what encouragement they any of them 
give to an unregenerate fmner, to expedl any part oi the 
kingdom of heaven. In the mean time, permit me to 
prefent you with a few texts, as a fpecimen of the reft. 

The apoftle Paul, in his epiftle to the Romans, does 
indeed fpeak of God's juftifying the ungodly (3) ; but 
left any fhould vainly imagine tl:iat he encourages the 
hope of thofe that continue fo, he exprefsly tells us, in 
the very fame epiftle, that the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven agdinjl all ungodlinefs and unrighteoufnefs of 
men (4) ; and that ere long this wrath (hall be executed, 
even in the day of the more ample revelation of the 
righteous judgment of God ; who will render to every man ac- 
cording to his deeds : — To them that do not obey the trttth, hut 
gbey unrighteoufnefs^ (which is the charader of every uii- 

<i) Mat. iiv. 4Xi (^) I^^^c *• i^- {3) ^o«^- iV' 5' 
(4) Rcra. i. 18. 



KECESSlTy OF REGENERATION. 95 

iregcnerate finner) indignation and nurath ; trilmlation and 
imgu't/h upon en)ery fiul of man thai doeth evtl^ of the yeiv 
firjiy as having had the moft fignal advantages, though 
advantages inferior to yours, and alfo of the Geriitk (i). 
And farther he affures us, that to be carnally minded is 
death ; and that the carnal mind, which univerfally pre- 
vails in men, till by regenerating grace they are made 
fpiritual, is enmity againfi God, and is not fuhje& to the lano 
9f God J neither indeed can be (2). — In another epiftle he 
mentions it as a firft principle, in which, it might ration- 
ally be fuppofed, no Chriftian was uninftruded ; Knotu 
ye noty fays he, that the unrighteous Jhall not inherit the king- 
dom of God ( 3 ) ? And elfewhere he declares, that all ex- 
ternal modes of religion, feparate from that entire change 
of foul which I have defcribed, are worthlefs and vain : 
In Chrifl Jefus, fays he, or to thofe that defire any part ia 
him and his kingdom, neither circumcifton availeth any things 
nor uncircumclfion^ but a neiu creature (4). — He like wife 
tells us to this purpofe in another place, that his grace^ 
fwhich has appeared unto all men, teaches us to deny ungodlinefs 
and worldly lujisy and to live foherly, righteoufly^ and godly in 
this prefent ivorld (5) ; and yet, after all, to acknowledge, 
that it \% not by <works of righteoufnefsy 'which zue have donCp 
but according to his mercy he faves us, by the ivajlding of re* 
generation, and the renewing of the Holy Ghojl, nvhich he has 
Jbed on us abundantly through Jefus Chriji our Saviour (6). 
And without hollnefs, which is the effe(5l of thefe facred 
operations upon the foul, he exprefsly tells us in another 
place, that no manjloallfee the Lord (7)* — And to allege 
but one more paffage from him : as it is evident, that 
all unregenerate fmners, and only they, are ignorant of 
God, and difobedient to the Gofpel ; he folsmnly af- 
fures us, that inftead of receiving inch at Uil into his 
kingdom, the Lord Jefus fhall be revealed from heaven, with 
his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taiing vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey hot the Gofpel of our Lord Jefus 
Chrift : <who floall be pun'fhed with eveAaJling deJlruBion 
from the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
power (8).—- This is the teflimony of the apoftle Paul ia 

(r) Rom. ii. 5, 6, 8, 9. (z) Rom. viir. 6, 7. 

(3) £ Cor. vi. 9. (4) Ga!. \u 1$. (5) Tit.ii. ri, i:^. 

(6) Tit. iii. 5, 6. (7) Heb, xii. 14. (8) % TheiF. i. 7, 8, 7, 



96 



SERMON IV. 



his ovm empbatical v/ord-s, z-ealous as he was for ths 
dodrine of free grace, which fuch declarations as thefe 
do not in the kail degree contradid. 

Let us now hear his brethren, the other apoftles of the 
Lord. — James urges fmners, if they ever defire to ciraw 
nigh to Gody and to have him dra^ 7iigh to them^ to ckanfe 
their hands, and purify their hearts ( i ). And yet more 
exprefsly he fays, Vvhen he fpeaks of thofe v/ho fliould n?- 
ceive the crcwn of life y ^which the Lord hath promifed to them 
that love him ; of his own will legat he us with the word of 
truthy that ive Jhould be a hind of frfl fruits of his cre^ 
atures (2). — The apoftle Peter dsfcribes Chriftians, as 
thofe \Yhoit fouls were purified in obeying the truth through 
the Spirit, being horn again, not of corruptible feed, but of in" 
corruptible (3) ; and as thofe, who were made partakers 
of the Divine Nature, having efcaped the corruption that is in 
the world through luf (4). — Again, John, the beloved dif- 
ciple, tells us, that every one that doth righteoifnefs is born 
of God (5) ; but he that committeth fn is of the devil (6) : 
and that every one that has a well-grounded hope of being 
like Chr'ift, and feeing him as he is, when he appears, purifies 
himfelf, even as he is pure (7). — And once more, the 
apoftle Jude, as he defcribes thofe who ^xt fetfual, and 
have not the Spirit, as men, that, if they v^qvq favsd at all, 
muft ho. plucked out of the fre (8) ; fo he echos back that 
awful prophecy, which Enoch had fo long fmce deliver- 
ed, that the Lord will come with ten thovfand of his faints ^ 
to execute judgment up^n all, and to convid: all that are ungodly, 
ofallxhcfc ungodly deeds and words, by which they have 
violated his law (9). 

This then appears, from the whole tenor of the wScrip- 
tures, to be the pofitive and immutable conftitution of 
the great God, " that none who are unregenerate fliall 
be admitted to enjoy the happinefs of heaven." And 
from the vicvf that we have taken of the facred writings 
it is manifeft, that this, in every age, has been the 
language of the word of God ; and under every difpen- 
fation we have fufficient evidence of this important truth. 
This is the dodrine of the Old Teftament ; and raanj 

(i) Jam. iv. 8. (2) Jam.i. 12, 18. (3) i Pet. i. 2^,23. 

(4) 2 Pet. I, 4. (5) I John ii. 29. (6) i John iii, 8. 

(7) I Juhu iii. 2, 3. (8) Jude ver. 19, 23. (9) Ju<le ver. 14, 15. 



^ NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. 97 

are the paffages that I have oiFered from the law of 
Mofes, and from ths Prophets, and the Pfalms, that ihew 
it is impoffible an unrenewed foul fnoald enter into 
heaven. And the fame ah^o is alferted in the ftrongeft 
terms in the New Teftament ; and when Chrift came to 
fet the Gufpel of the kingdom in a clearer light, the purport 
of the declaration that he makes to Nicodemus in the 
text, v/as frequently repeated by him in the courfe of his 
preaching, and reprefented as the rule he would regard 
at the lail day. And the infpired Apoftles fpeak the 
fame thing with an united voice, and teftify at large iu 
their epiftles, that it is abfolutely neceffary we iliould be 
born again, if ever we would hope to fee the kingdom of God. 
So that now, Sirs, 1 may fay, GalU If there he any that 
ivill anjwcr ; and to <which of the faints will you turn (i), 
to encourage your vain and prefumptuous hope, of find- 
ing your lot among God's people in the kingdom of 
glory, if you are ilrangers to that important and univer- 
fal change, which we before defcribed as regeneration in 
the Scripture {tvxi^t of the word ? The prophets under the 
Old Teitamentj and Chrift and his Apoftles under the 
Nevv^, concur, in all the variety of the moft awful lan- 
guage, to expofe fo prefumptuous a hope. And is it not 
audacious madnefs in any to venture their fouls upon it ? 
Thus you would undoubtedly judge of any man, who 
fliould ftrike a dagger into his bread, or difcharge a pif- 
tol at his head, on this prefumption, that the almighty 
power of God could prevent his death, though the heart 
or the brain were pierced. But it is much greater folly 
for a man, while he continues in an unregenerate ftate, 
to promife himfelf a part in the kingdom of heaven. 
For though there would be no reafon in the world to ex- 
pert a miraculous interpofition, to fave a life which a 
man was io refolutely bent to deftroy ; yet none can fay, 
that fuch an interpofuion would contradici: any of the 
exprefs engagements of God's word ; whereas to admit 
an unregenerate fmner into the regions of glory, would 

(i) Job V. I, 
I 



9? SERMON IV. 

be Violating, not this, or that fingle declaration, btit the 
whole ferles and tenor of it ; and we fhall farther fliew, 
in the next Difcourfe, that it would alfo be, in effedl, al- 
tering the very nature of the heavenly kingdom itfelf, as 
well as its conftitution. Now what hope can be' more 
defperate, than that which can have no fupport, but in 
the fubverfion of the Redeemer's kingdom, and even of 
the eternal throne of God, the foundations of which are 
righteoufnefs and truth I 



SERMON V. 



OF THE INCAPACITY OF AN UNREGENERATE PER. 

SON FOR RELISHING THE ENJOYMENTS 

OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD, 



John iii. 3. 



-Fy^:cfpt a man be horn again he cannot fee the kingdom 
of GOD. 

IN order ta demonftrate the neceffity of regeneration, 
of which I would fain convince not only'your under- 
{landings, but your confciences, I am now proving to you, 
that without it, it is impoffible to enter into the kingdom 
of God : a;nd how weighty a confideration that is I am 
afterwards to reprefent. 

That it is thus impoffible, the words In the text do in- 
deed fufficiently prove : but for the further illuftration 
of the fubjecl, I have propofed to confider it under two 
diftlnd vlew^s. 

I have already fhewn it is impoffible, becaufe " the 
conftitution of the kingdom of heaven is fuch, that God 
has folemnly declared, and this under dilFerent difpenfa- 
tions, and more or lefs plainly in all ages of his church, 
that no unregenerate perfon, i. e, no impenitent fmner, 
fliall have any part in it.'' And I am now further to 
fliew, 

[2.] That "the nature o£ tliQ future happinefs (which is 
here chiefly fignified by the kingdom of God) is fuch, that 
an unregenerate perfon would be incapable of relifhing 
it, even upon a liippofition of his being admitted into 
it.'^ 



ICO SERMON V. 

This IS a thought of fo great importance, and fo feU 
dom reprefented in its full ftr^ngth, that I fhall at pref- 
tnt confine my difcourfe entirely to it. 

I know, fanners, it \vill be one of the moft difficult 
things in the world, to bring you to a ferious perfuafion 
of tfris truth. You think heaven is fo lovely, and fo 
glorious a place, that ifyoit could pcflibly get an admit- 
tmce thither, you Ihould certainly be happy. But 1 
would now fet myfelf, if poiilble, to convince you that 
this is a rafh'and ill-grounded perfuafion ; and that on 
the contrary, if you w^ere now in the regions of glory, 
zVid in the focieiy of thofe bleffed in1>abitants, that un- 
renewed nature and unfandiiied heart of yours, would 
give you a difrelifli for all the fublimeil entertainments 
of that blifsful place, and turn heaven itfelf mto a kind 
of hell to you. 

Now for the demonflration of this, it is only neceffary 
for you ferioufly to confider " what a kind of happinefs 
that of heaven is, as it is reprefented to us in the word 
of God ;" for from thence undoubtedly w^e are to take 
our notions of it. 

You might to be fure fit down and imagine a happi- 
nefs to yourfelves, which would perfeifily fuit your degen- 
erate tafte ; a happinefs, which, the more entirely you 
were enflaved to fiefh and fenfe, the more exquifitely^ you 
would be able to enter into it. If God would affign 
you a region in that beautiful world, w'here you fhould 
dwell in fine houfes magnificently furnifhed, and gaily 
adorned ; where the moft harmonious mufic fhould 
footh your ear, and delicious food and generous wines in 
a. rich variety fhould regale your taiie : if he fhould 
give you a fplendid retinue of people, to carefs and at- 
tend you, offering you their humbleft fervices, and ac- 
knowledging the moil fervile dependence upon your fa-, 
vour : efpecially if v/ith all this he fhould furnifli you 
with a fet of companions jufl of your ow^n temper and 
difpofition, w4th v/hom you might fpend w^hat propor- 
tion of time you pleafed, in gaming and jollity, in riot 
and debauchery, without any interruption from the re- 
proof, or even the example of the children of God, or 
from indifpofitions of body, or remorfe of confcience : 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON. lOI 

this you would be ready to call life and happinefs in- 
deed : and if the great difpofer of all things were but to 
add perpetuity to fuch a fituation, you would not envy 
perfons of a more refined tafte the heaven you loft, for 
fuch a Paradife as this. 

Such indeed v/as the happinefs which Mahomet prom- 
ifed to his followers: flcnvery fliades and gay dreffes, 
luxurious fare and beautiful women, are defcribed with 
all the pomp of language in almoft every page of his 
Alcoran, as the glorious and charming rewards which 
were to be beftowed on the faithful after the refurredlion. 
And if this were the felicity which the Gofpel promifed> 
extortioners and idolators, whoremongers and drunk- 
ards, would be much fitter to inherit the kingdom of Gody 
than the moft pious and mortified faint that ever appear- 
ed on earth. But here, as almoft every where elfe, the 
Bible and the Alcoran fpeak a very different language ; 
and far from leading us into fuch grofs and fenfual ex- 
pectations, our Lord Jefus Chrift has told us that the 
children of the refurre&ion neither marry ^ nor are given in mar^ 
riage ; lut are like the angels of God in heaven ( i ), and 
enjoy fuch pure and fpiritual delights, as are fuited to 
fuch holy and excellent creatures. 

It is true that in the book of Revelations, ftately pal- 
aces and fhining habits, delicious fruit and harmonious 
mufic are all mentioned, as contributing to the happinefs 
of thofe, who have the honour to inhabit the Nev/ Jeru- 
falem. But then the ftyle of that obfcure and prophetic^ 
al book naturally leads us to confider thefe m.erely as 
figurative phrafes, which are made ufe of to exprefs the 
happinefs that Divine wifdom and love has prepared for 
the righteous, in a manner accommodated to the weaknefs 
of our conceptions ; or at leaft, if in any of thefe refpe(fls 
provifion be made for the entertainment of a glcrijitd to- 
dy, whatever its methods of fenfation and perception v;ill 
be, all will be tem.perate and regular : and after all, this 
is even there reprefented but as the lead confiderable part 
of our happinefs, the hei^it of which is made to confid 
in the moft elevated ftrairS of devotion, and in an entire 

(i) Mat. xx-ii. 30. 
I 2 



102 SERMON V. 

and everlaflmg devotediiefs to the fervice of God and of 
the Lamb. 

Let us therefore immediately proceed to fettle the 
point in queftion, by a more particular furvey of the 
feveral branches of the celeftial felicity, as reprefented 
to us in the word of God ; and from thence it will un- 
deniably appear, that w^ere an unregenerate foul in the 
fame place with the biefTed, and furrounded with the 
fame external circumftances, the temper of the mind 
w^ould not by any means allow him to participate of 
their happinefs. For it is plain the Scripture reprefents 
tlie happinefs of heaven, as confiding, — in the perfection 
of our minds in knowledge and holinefs ; — in the iight 
and fervice of the ever blelTed God, — in beholding the-*" 
glory of our exalted Redeemer ; — and enjoying the Socie- 
ty of glorious angels and perfeded faints, — throughout 

an endlefs eternity. Now^, fmners, it is impoffible you 

fnould enter into any fuch delights as thefe, while you 
continue in an unregenerate ftate. ' 

I. One very confiderable part of the happinefs of 
heaven confifls, ** in that perfedion of knowledge and 
holinefs to which the bleiTed ihall be there exalted ;*' in 
which the unregenerate foul can have no pleafure. 

Thus we are told, that the fptrits of jnji men fhall there 
be made perfeB ( i ) ; for nothing that dtfJes^ as every degree 
of moral imperfedion does, JhaJl enter Into the New 
yerufalem (2). An Old Teftament faint conceived of fu- 
ture happinefs, as confiding in being fail sfied with the I'lie- 
n.fs of God ( 3 ) : a charader that is manifeilly moft agree- 
able to the view of it, w^hich the beloved difciple gives 
us, where he fays, that when Chrflflmll appear^ wefJmll hi 
like htm, for we fcall fee him as he Is {^) \ w^hich muft cer- 
tainly refer to the glories of the mind, which are of infi- 
nitely greater importance than the higheil imaginable 
beauty and ornament, that can be put upon the corpore- 
al part of our nature in its muft iliuftrious ftate. 

Now from this perfedlioiL and holinefs, which fhall 
then be wrought in the foul, tnere will naturally arife an 
unfpeakable complacency and joy, fomething refembling 

(i) Heb. xlii. 23. (2) Rev. xsi '^7. (3) Pfal. xvii. IJ. 
(4) J John iii. 2. 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON, 103 

that which the blefled God himfelf poffefTes, in the fur- 
vey of the infinite and mifpotted redlitude of his own 
moil holy nature. And in proportion to the degree, in 
which the eyes of our underjlandings are enlightened to difcern 
w^herein true excellency confifts, will the foul be delight- 
ed in the confcioufnefs of fuch confidcrable degrees of it 
in itfelf. 

But furely it will be fuperfluous for me to undertake 
to demon ftrate, that an unregenerate foul can have no 
part in this divine pleafure, which implies the complete 
renewal of the mind as its very foundation. For to 
imagine that he might, would be fuppoiing him regener- 
ate and unregenerate at tlie fame time. As Mr. Baxter 
very well expreffes it, "the happinefs of heaven is holi- 
nefs ; and to talk of being happy without it is as appar- 
ent nonfenfe, as to talk of being well without health, or 
being faved without falvation.'' 

I would only add on this head, that the higheft im« 
provement of cur intelledlual faculties could not make us 
happy, without fuch a change in the affedtions and the 
will, as I have before defcribed under the former gener- 
al head. For the more clear and diftindl the knowledge 
of true excellence and perfe<5tion is, the greater would be 
your anguifh and horror, to fee and feel yourfelves en- 
tirely deftitute of it ; and it is exceeding probable that 
fpirits of the mod elevated genius have the keeneft fenfa- 
tion of that infamy and mifery, which is infeparable from 
the prevalence of fmful difpofitions in fuch minds as 
thefe. 

2. x^nother very confiderable branch of the celeftial 
happinefs, is that v/hich arifes " from the contemplation 
and enjoyment of the ever ble/Ted God ;'' but of this 
likewife an unregenerate iinner is incapable. 

As our own reafon afllires us, that God is the greateft 
and beft of beings, and the moft deferving cbjedl of our 
inquiries and regards, one v/ould think it would natural- 
ly lead us to imagine, that the perfedlon and happinefs 
of the human foul confifts in the knov/ledge and enjoy- 
ment of him ; and that when it arrives at the feat of 
complete felicity, it mud intimately know him, and con- 
verfe with him. And in this view, I have fometimes 



104 SERMON VU 

been furprifed, that men of fuch diftinguifhed abilitiesf^i 
as fome of the heathen poets and philofophers appear to 
have been, fhould have had no greater regard to the Su- 
preme Being in the defcriptions which they give us of 
the future happinefs. That fort of friendfliip for them, 
which an acquaintance with their writings mu ft give to a 
perfon of any relifh for the beauties of compofition, makes 
one almoft unwilling to expofe the low and defpicable 
ideas, which they often give of the ftate of their greatefl 
heroes in the regions of immortality. But the word of 
God fpeaks a very diiFerent language. Our Lord rep- 
refents the rewards to be beftowed on the pure in hearty 
by telling us that they Jh all fee ^ i. e. contemplate and en- 
joy God (i) : and virtuous fouls who overcome the 
temptations with which they are here furrounded, fliall 
be made as pillars in the houfe of their God, and fb all go no 
more out ( 2 ) : and it is elfewhere faid that his fervants 
fid all fern) e him^ and fio all fee his face {'^)* And David's 
views under a darker difpenfation role to fuch a degree 
of refinement, as to fay, j^s for me, Ifhall behold thy face in 
righteoufnefs (4) ; which he mentions as a felicity infinite- 
ly fuperior to all the delights of the moft profperous fm- 
ner. 

But now, finners, It is utterly impoffible that while you 
continue in an unregenerate ftate, you fhould behold the 
face of God with pleafure. The unutterable delight which 
the bleffed inhabitants of heaven find in it, arifes not 
merely from the abftracft ideas of his effential perfedions, 
but from a fenfe of his favour and love to them. It is 
this that gives a relifli to the whole furvey, and rejoices 
the heart cf all the faints, both in heaven and on earth. 
He is a God of awful majefty and irrefiftible power, of 
infinite wifdom and unfpotted holinefs, cf unerring juf- 
tice, invariable fidelity, and inexhauftlble goodnefs ; and 
this God is our God, he will be our guide and our portion for^ 
ever (5). And were it not for this view, let a creature 
think of God with ever fo muchfpirit and propriety, he 
muft think of him, and be troubled (6) ; yea, he muft be 
filled with unutterable horror and confufion, as the devil 

(i) Mat. V. ?. (2) Rev. iii. ii, (3) Rev. xxii. 3, 4. 

{4) Pfal. xvii. 15. (5) Y'iA ^U\n, 14. Uxiii. a6. (6) Pfal.Uxvii. 3. 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON. IC5 

Is at the thought of an infinitely perfed Being, in whom 
he has no intereft, from whom he has nothmg friendly to 
expedl ; and if nothing friendly^ then every thing dread- 
ful. 

Now it Is 'certain, fmnersj that while you continue in 
an unregenerate ftate, under the influence of that carnal 
tntnd which is enmity agawji God ( i }, and full cf uncon- 
querable rebellion againft his law^, there can be no foun- 
dation for a friendihip betw^een him and your fouls ; nor 
for any perfuafion, or any apprehenfion of your interefl 
in his favour and love. Friendihip, you know, fuppofes 
fomething of a fimilitude of nature and fentiment ; for 
as God himfelf argues, hoiv can two walk together except 
they he agreed (2) ? Now I have before obierved to you 
at large, that God being of purer eyes than to behold e^uil ( 3 ), 
muft neceffarily hate all the workers cf Intquliy : the foolijh 
therefore fiall not Jl and tn his fight (4), or fhall not be ad- 
mitted to fuch a fituation : nor would they indeed be able 

to endure it. Let confcience judge w\^at fatisfa6lion 

you could find in the prefence of a God, that you knew 
icorned and hated you, even while he fufFered you to con« 
tinue among the crowd of his children and fervants. The 
more lively ideas you had of the beauty and perfedion of 
the Divine nature, the more you muft hath yourfehes for 
being fo unlike him, and fo abominable to him : and 
what pleafure do you think confiftent with fuch felf-con- 
tempt and abhorifence ? Or rather, would not the wretch* 
ed degeneracy of your nature lead you another way ; 
and a kind of unconquerable felf-love, joined even with 
this- confcioufnefs of deformity and vilenefs, lead 3/0U to 
hate God himfelf? It is defcrlbed as the fatal effed of 
prevailing wickednefs in the heart, my ford loathed them^ 
and their foul alfo abhorred me (5). And thus would it 
probably w^ork in you, and produce in your wretched 
breafts a mortal hatred againft him, and an envious rage 
at the thought of his perfe(fl happinefs ; a ftate of mind 
of all others that can be imagined, the moft odious, arid 
the moft tormenting. How, Sirs, could your hearts, 

(i) Rom. vlii. 7. (2) Amos iii. 3. (3) Hcb. i. 13, 

(4) Pfal. V. 5. (5) Zach. xi. 8. 



I05 SERMON V. 

poflefled with thefe diabolical pafllons, bear to fee the 
beams of his glory furrounding you on every fide ? How 
could you bear to hear the fongs and adorations, that 
were continually addreffed to his throne ; and to obferve 
the humble attendance of all the hofts of heaven about 
it, who perpetually reckon it tlieir honour and happinefs 
to be employed in obedience to his commands ? Such a 
fight of the glory and felicity of your Divine enemy 
would make you, fo far as your limited nature was ca- 
pable of it, miferable even in proportion to the degree 
in which he is happy. This was, no doubt, the torment 
of "the devils as foon as they had harboured a thought of 
hoftillty agalnft God ; and the remembrance of that 
glory in v^hich they once faw him, and which they know 
he dill invariably pofTefTes,' is furely an everlafting vex- 
ation to them : and it would be fo to you, if you were 
within tlie fight of it. 

But further, the bleifed in heaven find their everlafting 
entertainment " in th^ fervice of God.'* Thy rejl not day 
and nighty f^y'^^gi Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ( I ) ; 
i. e. they are continually employed, either in the imme- 
diate adts of devotion, or in other fervices, in which they 
ftill maintain a devotional temper, and are breathing out 
their fouls in holy aifedtions, while their a(ftive powers are 
employed in the execution of his commands. But as I 
have already fhewn you, that while in an unregenerate 
flate you could have no fenfe of his favour to you ; it is 
very apparent, that you could have no fentiments of grat- 
itude and love towards him. So that while angels and 
glorified faints were breathing out their fouls in the moft 
delightful and rapturous praifes, you muft keep a fullen 
kind of filence ; or, if it were poffible that your harps 
and voices fiiould found as melodioufly as theirs, it 
would be all ceremony and fhew : the mufic of the heart 
would be wanting ; and you would look on all the ex- 
ternal forms of fervice but as a tedious taflc, and count 
it your misfortune, that the cuftoms of tlie place obliged 
you to attend them. You may the more eafily appre- 
hend and believe this, when you confider what little rel- 
ifli you now have for thofe folemnities of Divine wot- 

(i) Rev. iv, 8. 



OF AN UNCOKVERTED PERSON. I07 

flilp, m which fincere Chriftlans have the moft lively 
fdretaftes of heaven. You know, in your own con- 
fciences, that fhort and interrupted as our public fervices 
are, they are the burden of your lives. You know that 
you fay, in your hearts at leaft. When njulll the Sabbath be 
pajly and the neiu moon be gone ( i ) ? Judge then how in- 
fupportable it would be to you, to fpend an everlafting 
Sabbath thus. I queftion not, but to your wretched 
ipirits annihilation ^would appear vaflly preferable to an 
eternal exiftence fo employed. 

3. Another very confiderable branch of the happinefs 
of heaven, is that which arifes " from the light of the glory 
of an exalted Redeemer ;^^ but for this likewife no uncon- 
verted finner can have any reliih. 

This is a view of the future happinefs, which our 
Lord gives us, when he prays for his people in thofe 
memorable words, engraven, as I hope, upon many of 
pur hearts ; Father, I lulll that they nvhom thou ha/i given 
me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory 
which thou hajl given me (2). And he elfewhere promi- 
fes it, as the great reward he would beflow upon his peo* 
pie ; If any man ferve me, let htm follow me : and where I am^ 
there alfo Jhall my fervant be (3). And agreeable to this, 
the Apoille Paul reprefents it as the tranfporting view 
in which he confidered the happinefs of the future 
world ; I defire, fays he, to depart, and to be with Chrtjl ; 
whicb i^ far better (4) ; incomparably beyond any of the 
enjoyments of the prefent world which can come into 
competition with it. — But for this part of the happinefs of 
angels, and of the fpirits ofjufl men made perfed, it is alfo 
evident, that you, fumers, can have no relifh. 

The fight of Chrift will afford holy fouls a tranfport- 
ing delight, becaufe they will regard it as the glory of 
their Redeemer and their friend, and as a pledge and fe- 
curity of their own glory. But what foundation can you, 
finners, find for fuch ;a joyful fympathy with Chrill, and 
fuch a comfortable conclufion with regard to yourfelves ? 
Such is the v/retched degeneracy of your nature, that 
though Chrifi be indeed the chief efi among ten thoufand, and 

(i) Amos viii. $. {%) John vii. 24. (3)John xii. a6. (4) X'kIL i. '^3. 



io8 sERMos y* 

aUogether lovely (i), being the bright nefs of his Father's 
glory, and the expre/s Image of his perfon ( 2 ), poffeffed of ev» 
€ry divine perfedion and excellence.; yet you now flight 
and ncgle(fl: him, and difcern in him no form or comelinefs^ 
for which he is tole defired (3) : and were you unregene- 
rate in heaven, the fame principle would prevail. Now 
where there is no love to a perfon, there can be no de- 
light in his converfe, nor any pleallire in his happinefs. 
Nay, the contrariety of your nature to his would rather 
occafion averfion and terror. You could not but know, 
that the bleifed Jefus is holy and imdejilniy Tind. feparate 
frcmjinners (4) ; that he abhors all moral evil to fuch a 
degree, that he laid afide all the glory and entertain- 
ments of heaven, that he might defti'oy the intered of fm 
in this v/oild of ours, and might purfy io klmfelf a peculiar 
people, xealous of good works (5) : and when you Ihould 
recolledl at the fame time that fmfulnefs that continued 
to reign in your hearts, and made you to every good work 
reprobate \6), you could not but know that you muft be 
hateful to him : and therefore could not but fear, left 
his almighty power fhould be exercifed for your punlih- 
ment and deftrudion : and thus your terror muft rife, in 
proportion to thefenfible evidence you had of his dignity 
and authority. In a word, you would ftand like guilty 
rebels in the pi-efence-chamber of their injured and dll* 
pleafed Sovereign : his throne and his fceptre, his robe 
and his crown, his courtiers and his guards, though iii- 
themfelves fplendid and magnificent objeds, only fcrve to 
terrify and amaze them, while they difplay the grandeur 
and pov>rer cf their enemy. .-,( , , : ■ 

4, Another very confiderable braii.t:h of the celeftial 
happinefs vrill be " the fociety of angels and glorified 
faints ;'' but for this like wife an unregenerate fmner muft 
be unfit. 

You know, that when the Apoftle fpeaksof our alli- 
ance to the heavenly world, he reprefents it as a focial 
ftate ; w^here excellent fpirits dwell together, and coa- 
verfe widi eacJi other with mutual efteem and endear- 
ment : ye are eomcy fays he, to the heavenly jerufalem^ and 

(i) Cant, V. 10, 16. (2) Heb. I. 3. (3) Ifa. iiii. 2. 

(4) Hcb. vii. 26. Is) Tit. ii. 14- (6) Tit. i. 16. 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON. I09 

to an innumerahk company of angels ^ to the general ajfemhly and 
church of the frjl-born.iuhkh are written in heaven, and to 
the fpirits ofjvjl men made perfect {i). lx.\s fitting down 
nvith Jbraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, with all the patriarchs 
aiid prophets, all the apoftles and martyrs in the kingdom 
of heaven {2}: and perhaps you tlimk you fhail want 
nothing more to complete your happinefs, than to be ad- 
mitted to a place among them. But refled a little more 
attentively upon the circumftances of things, and I am 
perfuaded you will form a different judgment. 

There is no rcafon to doubt, but that at your firft en- 
trance into the regions of glory you would be agreeably 
ftruck with the view of thofe inhabitants. As for thofc 
beauties of their charadter, which confift in love to God, 
and in zeal for his honour and intereft, it is certain, that 
you would be infenfible of them, and pay but little regard 
to them : but the humanity and benevolence of their tem- 
per would, no doubt, render them agreeable to you ; 
and fo much the more, as feif-love might lead you to ex- 
pert fome perfonal advantage by it. And it is more 
than poffible, that you would be much prejudiced in their 
favour by thofe refplendent and attrad:ive forms in which 
they appear ; form.s, no doubt, far more beautiful and 
-engaging than any which the children of men ever favr 
upon earth. On both thefe accounts it might be natu- 
ral enough for you, at firft, to addrefs them with an air 
of refpe(5l, as perfons that you could be glad to be upon 
good terms with, and in whofe friendfhip you could dc- 
iire a fliare. 

But how do you think that any fnch propofal of friend- 
fiiip would be received by an angel, or a glorified faint I 
No doubt, if there were any profpecl of converting you, 
or any hope you might be brought to a devout and holy 
temper, they would immediately hQComt preachers of righU 
eoufnefs to you ; and endeavour by tlie mod rational/the 
moft pathetic, and the moft infmuating addrefs, to awak- 
en and charm you to a fenfe of religion, and fo to form 
you to a capacity for happinefs. But they would know, 
that according to the eternal conftitution of God, iherc 

if) Hcb. xii. ^^, 23. (2) Mat. viii. 11. 

K 



no SERMON V. 

could be no room to entertain fuch an hope ; but that 
hehigjihhy, you muft hz filthy Jl ill (i) : and therefore, as 
they would know you to be incorrigible, their love to 
God, and their concern to be approved and accepted by 
him, would prevent their forming any intimate friendfliip 
with perfons whofe natures were fo contrary to him, and 
on whom he looked v/ith fuch irreconcileable abhorrence. 
And befides this, their own perfonal fanclity of charader 
v>'ould give them an averfion to fuch corrupt and degen- 
erate creatures : fo that how much foever they might 
pity your condition, they would turn away from you, as 
objecls whofe prefence and converfe were not to be en- 
dured. 

And do you not eafily apprehend, that fuch a refufal 
on their part v>'ould be both fhameful and very provok- 
ing to you ? For which way could you bear it, to be thus 
rejected and difiionoured by the moft excellent part of 
the creation ; by thofe whom p^srhaps you once intimate- 
ly knew, and with whom you converfed upon equal 
terms ; nay, by many who were once much your infe- 
riors, and Vv^iom, perhaps, in the pride of your hearts, 
you would not condefcend to regard ? The natural effe<^ 
of this m.uft furely be, that you would foon be propor- 
tionably difpleafed and enraged with the refufal, as you 
were at firft charmed at their appearance : and when 
you faw that tranfporting pleafure which they took in 
the affe(flion and friendfhip of each other, and the joy 
which the Divine favour poured into their fouls, while 
you, in the very fame place, were excluded from thefe 
rich entertainments, your hearts would foon burn with 
envy and indignation ; and as much as you before ad- 
mired tliem, you, upon this, would come to hate them. 
And, perhaps, that hatred would put you upon fome at- 
tempt to interrupt, or even, if it were poilible, to de- 
ftroy that happinefs v/hich you were not allowed to fhare. 
Lut, then, when you fav/ them continually under the 
Divine protection, and coTupalJed ^vhh his favour, as ivith a 
fb'ieU (2), fo that your malice could not reach them, ail 
the keennefs and rancour of your fpirit would recoil up- 
on itfelf ; you v/ould fiy from their prefeace, as infup- 

(i) Rev. xxii. II, (2) Pfal, V, It. 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON. Ill 

l^ortable ; and would be glad to retire to fome meaner 
apartment, or to hide yourfelves in the (hades of dark- 
nefs ; fo that you might but get rid of the fight of ih 
many dazzling objedls, whofe iudre, inftead of cheering 
your vitiated eye, would pain and overpower it. 

But if you fliould not be tranfported to this diabolical 
excefs ; if it were poffible for you to behold the glorified 
faints, and to live among them, without thefe envious 
and tormenting paffions ; yet furely you would want a 
reiiih for the moft entertaining part of their converfation. 
Had you indeed a good natural genius, which to be fare 
many unconverted fmners have, it might be very agree* 
able to hear them difcourfmg of the wonders of nature ; 
and that curiofity, which is in fome meafure incident 
even to perfons of the meaneft capacities, would make it 
pleafant to hear them recount the important hiftory re- 
lating to the revolutions of the angelic world, which we 
on this earth are entirely (Irangers to, or at leafc have 
hQ(^n very little acquainted with them. But furely the 
moil delightful topics of converfation, which heaven itfelf 
can furnilh out, muft be thofe which are religious and 
divine ; the infinite perfections of the ever bleiied God^ 
the perfonal glories and incomparable love of his conde-- 
fcending, but exalted Son ; and the fandifying opera- 
tions of the bleffed Spirit on the foul, transforming it in- 
to the Divine Image, and making it meet for eternal glo- 
ry. Yea, even when the bleffed fpirits above are hand- 
ling philofophical or hiflorical fubje^s, they ftill confid- 
er them with a regard to God, as his perfecl:ions are 
difplayed and iliuftrated in the works of his hands, and 
in the condua: of his providence. And here their pleaf- 
ure Hows, not merely from a fet of rational ideas, which 
arife in their own mnnds, or are fuggefted to them by 
others : but from the exercife of thofe devout afFedion's 
upon the bleffed God, which are correfpondent to theie 
feveral fubjeds of difcourfe. 

And can you. Sirs, vAo are aJienated from the divine 
life ( I ), and accuflomed to live in a continual negleft and 
forgetfulnefs of the Great Parent of univerfal nature, can 
you reiiih fuch fubjeas as thefe ? You would, no doubt^ 

(i)Eph. iv. 1 8. 



1^2 SERMON V. 

be difcontented and uneafy in fuch a fcene ; the heavenly 
oratory of this holy fociety would have no charms for 
jou ; but you would be longing for fome of thofe vain 
and worthlefs companions, which you were fo fond of 
here upon earth, to hear a merry ftory, or a fong, or to 
join v^ith them in the pleafures of a debauch. 

5. Another confiderable branch of the happinefs of 
h:ayen arifes "from the a/Tared prcfpe<5i: of the everlajilng 
^Ofiihiuance of this felicity ;'' but, if an imregenerate foul 
could find any entertainment at ail in heaven, he cer- 
tainly could have no ground for fuch an expe(5lation of 
its continuance. 

^ When the children of God on earth think of the hap- 
pinefs of heaven, the eternity of it makes a very deep 
impreffion en their hearts, and even fwallows up their 
fouls with ardent defire and unutterable joy :- it raifes 
their efteem, and animates their hope, while they refled 
on that exceeding and eternal nveight of glory ( I ), that houfe 
not made ivhh hands ^ eternal in the heavens (2), and that /«- 
heritance incorruptible and undcfiled^ and ^'hich fadeth not 
away (3). And no doubt but the bleffed in heaven re- 
gard it in the fame view, and all the pleafures they en- 
joy are vaftly increafed by the profped of their endlefs 
duration ; fo that by the anticipation of an eternity ftill 
to come, they do, as it v/ere, every moment enjoy an in- 
finite fatisfadtion. But as for you, fmners, while you 
sre fo ill attempered to the happinefs of heaven, the prof- 
ped of an eternal abode there would not, on the princi- 
ples I have laid down above, be a profped of eternal 
happinefs, but rather, on the whole, of eternal imeafmefs 
to you. 

But fuffer me a little to difcourfe upon another fuppo- 
fition ; and let me now, for argument fake, wave what 
I have been fo long infilling upon, and fuppofe, that 
you could fo far command the turbulent paffions of 
your own heart, and fo unite (as it were) the whole 
powers of your foul, to attend to the beauty of place,, 
the harmony of mufic, and whatever elfe may be fup- 
pofed capable of regaling the fenfcs or the imagination^ 

(i) z Cor. iv. 17. (2) z Cer. v. i. (3) i Pet, 1.4* 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON* II3 

as upon the whole, to find heaven a pleafmg and de- 
lightful abode, and to wifh, that though fome of its en^ 
tertainments were above your tafte and capacity, yet 
you might be allowed an eternal enjoyment of the reft : 
could there be any room for you to exped a perpetual 
abode in thefe bliisful feats ? No, fmners, you would not 
be able fo much as to hope it. The good itfelf is fa 
great, and perpetual enjoymenl, even in any degree, has 
fuch a kind of infinite value, that I know^ not how the 
pureft and nobloft fpirits m heaven could abfckiteiy 
have been fecure of it, feparate from the engagement of 
a Divine promife. And what Divine promife would 
you be able to have reccurfe to in fuch a circumftance as 
we now fuppofe ? Where could you find it in all the 
book of God, that perfons of your charader (hould ever 
enter into heaven at all, much lefs that you Should for- 
ever continue there ? — -You could have therefore no fe-^ 
curity of the continuance of your abode in heaven, if it 
were pofilble that you fhould enter on the pofTeffion of 
it : but when you fhould confider the unfullied holinefs 
of the ever blefied God, the fovereign of this facred pro- 
rince, and the fpotlefs purity of that gracious Redeemerj 
to whom the government of it is committed, you could 
not but fear, that you fhould quickly be feized by the 
hand of vengeance, be hurled from the battlements of 
heaven, and plunged low into the pit of dedrudion. 
You know this was the condemnation of the rebel angelsj 
and your guilt, compared with that dreadful event, 
which makes fo confiderable a fcene of the hiftory of 
heaven, would, 1 doubt notj be fufficient to create ever- 
lailing jealoufy and uneafinefs, and to turn every pleaf- 
urable circumftance into a fource of horror, in the ap- 
prehenfions of being deprived eternally of it. 

Thus you fee, Sirs, from a particular furvey of the 
various lights in which heaven is reprefeiited, and of the 
various branches of Vv^hich its happinefs confifts, an un- 
regenerate finner is incapable of it, even though we 
would fuppofe that he was aclually admitted to it. Let 
me entreat you to refled on all thefe things, and you v/ill 
fee the reafonablenefs of that one remark with which I 
ihall conclude, this difcourfe, viz.. 
K 2 



114 SERMON V. 

How vain are all tliofe hopes of heaven, which ia 
your preient condition you are ready to entertain ! 

I have been proving at large, that if God were to ad- 
mit you to the pofrefTion of heaven, which it is certain 
he never will, you would be incapable of relifliing the 
enjoyments of it : nay, that there would be a folid foun- 
dation in your own hearts, for many of the moft tumul- 
tuous and difquieting paffions. Envy and grief, fear 
and rage, thofe roots of bitternefs, Vv^ould fpring up even. 
in the Paradife of God, and turn the fertility of thafblef- 
fed foil into their own nourifhmient. And do you ima- 
gine that any external accommodations or ornaments 
could make you eafy and comfortable, under the tranf- 
ports of fuch hellifh paffions ? \^^lat if you were to take a 
man that was tormented with a violent fit of the ftone or 
gout, and to place him in a moft delicious garden, or in 
a palace of marble and cedar, to fet him on a throne of 
gold under a canopy of purple, to clothe him with robes 
of velvet and embroidery, regaling him with the moft de^ 
licious fruits and generous wines, and at the fame time 
Toothing his ear with all the harmony of found, which 
the moft melodious fymphony of inftruments and voices 
could afford ? Would all this magnificence and luxury 
make him infcnfible of that anguifh which v/as racking 
his very vitals ? or would not that inward torture rather 
render him infenfible of this aftbciation of pleafurable 
impreffions from v/ithout ? Yea, would it not incHne him 
to fufpedl, that you intended all thefe pompous prepara- 
tions only to deride and infnlt him ? As little would 
3'Gur diftempered and unholy fouls be capable of relifh- 
ing the entertainments of heaven, while thefe entertain- 
ments and thefe fouls of yours, continue what they are at 
prefent. 

There muft be therefore a change : and will you con- 
sider where that change muft be made ? If you continue 
ftill in your prefent chara<5ter and circumftances., there 
muft be a vaft change in heaven itfelf, before you can be 
}iappy in it. The whole temper, charafler, and diipofi- 
tion of every faint and angel there, muft be changed 
from v/hat it now is, before they can be capable of any 
friendly and complacential converfation with you. Yea, 
our Lord Jefas Chrift. who is the fame ypr day ^ to-day, and 



OF AN UNCOKVERTED PERSON. II5 

forever (i), mud dived himfelf of thofe beauties of holi- 
nefs, which are infinitely dearer to him than any external 
grandeur or authority, before he can receive you into his 
kingdom. Nay, the very Father of lights, *with ivhom there is 
no variahlenefsy neither fhadoiv of turning {^2^ y muft be entire* 
ly changed. He muft lay afide that holinefs which is ef- 
fential to his nature, and which is the brightnefs and 
glory of it : he muft love that which he now hates, and 
be indifferent to that which he moft affe<5lionately loves, 
before h« can open his arms to you, and fmile upon your 
fouls. And can you dare to hope for fuch an unaccount- 
able, fuch an inconceivable revolution as this ? No, Sirs, 
infinitely fooner would God change earth into hell, and 
bury you, and all of your charadler, under the ruins of 
this world, which you inhabit and pollute, than he would 
thus tarnifh the beauties of heaven, and diveft himfelf of 
the brighteft glory of his own divinity. " God," fays 
Archbiihop Tillotfon, " has condefcended to take our 
nature upon him, that he might make us capable of hap- 
pinefs ; but if this will not do, he will not put off his own 
nature to make us happy." 

What then do you imagine ? Do you think that God 
will prepare fome feparate apartments in heaven, fur- 
nifhed with a variety of fenfual pleafures, for the enter- 
tainment of perfons of your characfler ? fome apartments 
from whence the tokens of his prefence fhall be with- 
drawn, from w^hence the exercife of his worfhip fiiall be 
baniflied, from whence faints and angels fhall retire to 
make way for thofe inhabitants, who, like you, have fin- 
ned themfelves beyond a capacity of enjoying God, or 
of being fit companions for any of his moft excellent 
creatures ? This were to fuppofe the Chriftian religion 
falfe, and to contradi6l the light of natural reafon too, 
which not only fhews fuch a difpofition of things to be 
unworthy the Divine fandity and majefty, but alfo 
fhews that if there be a future ftate, it rnuft be a ftate of 
mifery to wicked men, in Vs^hofe minds thofe vicious 
habits prevail, v/hich are even now the beginnings of 
hell J which therefore they muft carry along with them 

(i) Heb. xiii. 8, (a) Jam. i, 17. 



Il6 SERMON V. 

wherever they are, hi proportion to the degree in which 
they are predominant. 

Upon the whole then, yon muft evidently fee that it is- 
abiblutely neceffary that you, fmners, fbould be changed,. 
if ever you expe(5l to have any part or lot in the future 
happhiefs. And when do you expect that change fhould 
be wrought ? Do you exped it v»^hen death has done its- 
dreadful office upon you, and your foul arrives at the in- 
vifible world ? Is the air of it (if I may be allowed the 
expreffioii) fo refined that it will immediately purify, 
and transform every polluted fmner that comes into it f 
You cannot but know, that the whole tenor of Scripture 
forbids that prefumptuous, deftrudive hope. It aifures^ 
us that there is no <zvor^i nor device^ nor hno-wledge, nor nv'if- 
dom in the gra'ue ( i ) ; but that we muft h^ judged accordi?ig 
to what ive have done in the hodj, anxi not according to 
%Yhat has paft in any feparate ilate, whether the adions 
we have done be good, or whether they be evil (2). 

If ever therefore you are regenerate at all. it rnuft be- 
while you are here below, in this ftate of education and 
ti'ial : and if you continue in your fins till death fur- 
priie you, your fouls w^lll be forever fealed up under an^ 
irreverfible fentence, and by the decree of God, and the 
conftitution of things, will be excluded from happinefs, 
as, by no means either entitled to it, or prepared for it* 
So evident is the truth of this affertion in the text, that 
€.Kcept a man he horn again he cannot fee the kingdotn of God, 

And will you then fit dov/n contentedly under fuch a 
conclufion as this, " 1 fhall be excluded from this king- 
dom, as accurfed and profane V^ Alas, Sirs, the conclu* 
fion is big v/idi unutterable terror and death ; as I fhould 
now proceed to fliew you at large if my time would al- 
low : for I am next to reprefent the infinite importance 
cf entering into that kingdom, and confequently of that 
entire change which has been proved to be necefiary 
to that entrance. But I muft referve that to the next 
opportunity of this kind. In the mean time let me add, 
that I doubt not but there are many prefent, vv^ho have 
heard this defcrlptlon of the heavenly vrorld with de-* 
light, and who are faying in their hearts, *' This is my rejt 

(i) Eccl ix. 10. (2) % Cer. v. lo. 



OF AN UNCONVERTED PERSON. II7 

forever : here will I dwell, for I have defired it ( i ) : This 
is the felicity to which my heart afpires with the mod 
ardent breathing." Such may with the utmoft reafon 
regard it as a token for good, and may go on in a cheer- 
ful aflurance, that the grace that has made them meet to be 
partakers of the inheritance of the faints in light (2), will at 
length condud them to it, iti perfe^ fafety and everlaft* 
ing triumph. Amen^ 



\i) PfaLeixxii. 14. (%) Col. i. 1%. 



SERMON VL 



OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ENTERING INTO THE 
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 



John Hi. ^. 

«— ^ -Eiicept a man he horn again he cannot fc( the kingdom 

of GOD. 

HOW impeffible it is that an unregenerate finner 
fhould fee, i. e. enjoy the kingdom of God, or that 
future bleffednefs to which the gofpelis intended to lead 
its profeiTors, I have ihewn you at large. I have ap- 
pealed to the teilimony of God's holy prophets, and 
apoftles, in concurrence v/ith that of his incarnate Son, 
to prove that perfons of fuch a charadter are, by the in- * 
violable conftitution of that kingdom, excluded from it. 
And 1 have further in my lafl; difcourfe, proved, that if 
they were acftually admitted to it, they would be incapa- 
ble of relifliing its pleafures : that their vitiated palate 
would have a diuafle to the choiceft fruits of the Para- 
difeofGod; yea, that in thefe blifsfui regions thorns 
and briars would fpring up in their paths, and make 
them wretched in the very feat of happinefs. 

I doubt not, but you are in your confciences generally 
convinced, that the truth of thefe things cannot be con- 
tufted. You are inwardly perfuaded that it is indeed 
fo ; and I fear many of you have alfo reafon to appre^ 
Lend, that you are of this unhappy number, who are 



iMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. II9 

liitherto ftrangers to regenerating grace. But how are 
your minds impreffed with this apprehenfion ? Do I 
wrong you, Sirs, when I fafpedl. that fome of them are 
hardly impreffed at all I Do I wrong you when I fuf- 
ped there are thofe of you, who have fpent the laft week 
with very little refle<flion upon what you have heard I 
The cares and amufements of life have been purfued as 
before, and you have not taken one hour to enter into 
the thought with felf-application, and feriouily to con- 
fider, " I am one of thofe concerning whom eternal wiP 
dom and truth has pronounced, that, if they continue 
fuch as at prefentthey are, they JJjall not fee the kingdom of 
God»^^ You have not paufed at all upon the awful 
thought ; you have not offered one lively petition to 
God, to beg that you may be recovered from tliis un- 
happy ftate, and brought to a meetnefs for his kingdom, 
and a title to it. For your fakes therefore, and for the 
fakes of others in your ftate, having already explained, 
itiuftrated, and confirmed the propoHtion in raj text, 
I proceed, 

III. To reprefent to you the importance of the argu- 
ment fuggefted here ; or to fhew you, how much every 
unregenerace frnner ought to be alarmed to hear, that 
while he continues in his prefent ftate, he cannot fee the 
kingdom of God. 

And oh ! that while I endeavour to illuftrate this, mj 
words might enter into your minds as goads^ and might 
fix there as nails fafened In a fur e place ! The fabPcance of 
mj argument is given forth ly the one 'gx^'sXjloepherd ( i ) ; 
may the profecution of it be bleffed, as the means of re- 
ducing fome wandering fneep into his fold. 

Now in order to illuftrate the force of this argument, 
I befeech you feriouily to confider, — what this kingdom 
is, from which you are in danger of being forever ex- 
cluded ; and what v/ill be the condidon of all thofe, 

who Ihall be finally cut off from any intereft in it. 

[i.] Confider "what that kingdom is, from v/hkh 
the unregenerate, or thofe v^ho are not bora again, 
lliall be excluded. 

(i) Ecclef. \\i, II. 



I2e SERMON ru 

And here jovl are not to exped a complete reprcfen* 
-tation of it : for that is an attempt in which the tongues 
of angels, as well as men, might fail ; or how proper 
foever their language might be in itfelf, to us it would 
be unintelligible : for eye hath not feenynor ear heard^ neither 
have entered into the heart of man^ the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him (i). And furely thefe 
final and moft illuftrious preparations of his love muft, 
beyond all others, exceed our defcription and concep* 
tion. A minifter, that, t^-ith the apoftle Paul, had been 
caught up into the third heaven^ if he would attempt to 
fpeak of the glorious fcenes which were there opened to 
him, muft fay, they -were unutterable things (2.) : and one, 
that with John, had lain in the hofovi of Chrijl himfelf muft 
fay, as that Apoftle did, // does not yet appear <what ive 
Jhall he (3 ). And indeed, when we go about to difcourfe 
of it, I doubt not but the bleffed angels pity the weak- 
nefs of our apprehenfions and expreffions, and know 
that we do but debafe the fubjedi, when v/e attem.pt the 
.moft to exalt and adorn it. 

Yet there are juft and ftriking reprefentations of this 
kingdom made in the word of God ; and W^e are there 
often told in general, wherein it Ihall confift. You no 
doubt remember that I was, in the laft of thefe Ledures, 
going over feveral important viev/s of it. 1 then told 
you, it Vv'ill confift in the perfedlion of our fouls in knowl- 
edge and holinefs •; in the fight of God, and our bleffed 
Redeemer ; in exercifmg the moft delightful afFedions 
towards them, and in being forever employed in render- 
ing them the moft honourable fervices ; in converfmg 
with faints and glorious angels ; and in the aiFured ex- 
pedlation of the eternal continuance of this blclfednefs in 
all its branches. That this Is the fcriptural reprefenta- 
tion of the matter, I proved to yon from many ex-prefs 
teftimonies in the word of God ; and i doubt not, but 
you have often heard the excellency of each of thefe 
views rcprefented at larg-e, in dillinct dilcourfes on each. 

I will not therefore now repeat what has been faid 
upon fuch occafions ; but will rather dired you to fome 
general confiderations, which may convince you of the 

(i) I Cor. ii. 9. (2) 2 Cor. xli, 2,4. (3) i John iii, 2. 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. 121 

excellency of that ftate and world, from which, if you 
continue unregenerate , you muft forever be excluded : 
for I would fain fix it upon your minds, that it is in this 
connexion, and for this purpofe, that the reprefentation 
is made. And oh 1 that you might fo review it, as no 
longer to negkdi fo great falvation (i), nor ad: as if you 
judged fuch e'oerlajluig life to be beneath your attention, 
2.VLd unworthy your care and regard (2)! You cannot 
think it fo when you conflder, — that it is reprefented in 
Scripture under the moll magnificent images ; — that it 
is the ftate which God has prepaied for the difplay of his 
glory, and the entertainment of his mod favourite crea- 
tures ; that it is the great purchafe of the blood < f 

his eternal Son ^^ -that it is the main work of his fa- 

ci*ed Spirit to prepare men's hearts for it ; — and the great 
bufinefs of our inveterate enemy, the devil, by allpoffible 

-means, to prevent our obtaining it. Each of thefe 

<:onfiderations may much illuftrate the excellency of it, 
and all taken together yield a moft convincing demon- 
Uration. 

I. Confider, " by what a variety of beautiful and 
magnificent images this happinefs is reprefented in the 
word of God;" and that may convince you of its ex- 
cellency. 

When the blelTed God himfelf would raife our con- 
ceptions of a ftate of being, fo much fuperior to any 
thing v/e have ever feen or known, unlefs he intended a 
perfonal and miraculous revelation of it, he muft borrow 
our language, and in painting the glory of heaven muft 
take his colours from earth. And here the magnificence 
of a city, the fweetnefs of a garden, the folemn pomp of 
a temple, the luftre of a crown, and the dignity of a 
kingdom, ftrike powerfully on the human mind, and fill 
it with veneration and delight. But when fuch figures 
as thefe are borrowed from this low world of ours, 
fliintly to fiiadow out that which is above, there is al- 
v/ays the addition of fome important circurn fiance, to 
intimate hov/ far the celeftial original exceeds the bright- 

(i)Heb.ii.3. (2) A(£ls iiii. 46. 

L 



122 SERMON VI. 

eft earthly glory, by which the Divine condefcenfion has 
youchiafed to defcribe it. 

The enumeration of a variety of fcriptural defcriptions 
will fet thefe remarks in the ftrongeft light. If there- 
fore heaven be defcribed as a city, \i\sthe New Jervftdem^ 
the city of our God, that cometh doiun from God out of heaven 
( I ) ; the pavement Qii\X.%ftreets is all oi pure gold^ \X.% gates are 

pearly and its foundations je^.v eh (2). If it be a garden, 

it is the Paradife of God (3), and fo far fuperior to that 
which he at firft prepared and furnifned out for the enter- 
tainment of Adam in his ftate of innocence, that it \s plant' 
ed on e'-c cry fide with the tree of life (4), cf which there 
was but one alone in the garden of Eden : and is water- 
ed, not with fuch common rivers as the Tigris and Eu- 
phrates, but with that living, copious, inexhaufted ftream, 
the river of the water of Ife^ which, proceeds from the thjTGne 
of God (5), and gently glides along through all its bor- 
ders. — — When it is reprefented as a temple, we are told 
that inftead of a golden ark placed in the remoteft recefs, 
to which only the high prieil might once a year ap- 
proach, and on which he might not be aliovv^ed to gaze, 
the throne of God is ere<5led there (6), perpetually fu^r- 
roundedwith myriadsof worfliippers whoy^^ his face ^ and 
like the high prieft when clothed in his richeft robes, 
have his name wxitltxi in their foreheads (7) : inftead of the 
feeble rays of that golden candleftick, whofe lamps fhone 
in the holy place, the heavenly tem.ple is illuminated in 
a more glciious manner, and needs no candky neither light 
cf the fun ^ for the glory of God continually enlightens ity and 
the Lamb is the light thereof ( 8 } : Nay, we are alFured that, its 
facred jniniflers are made kings as well 2S priefls unto God (9) ; 
and accordingly being clothed in white ralmenty they have 
crowns of gold on their heads ( 10) ; as well as harps and gold- 
en vials ^ or ccnftYS full of incenfe in their hands (l I ) : <ii^d 
left we fhould think thefe pompous fervices are only the 
wntertainments of fome peculiarly facred feafons, we are 
told that they refl not day nor night (12), adoring htm thai 

(i) Rev. iii. I a. xxi. 2. (2) Rev. xxi. 19,21. (.") Rev. ii. 7. 

(4) Rev. xxii. 2. (.5) Rev. xxii. i. (6) Rev. vii. 15. 

(7) Rev. xxii. 4. (8) Rev. xxi. 23. xxii. 5. (9) Rev. i. 6. 

(10) P.ev. iv. 4. (11) Rev. v. 8. (12) Rev. iv. 8. 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATIOK. I23 

fits upon the throne^ and are fixed as pillars in his temple, to 
^go out no more ( i ). — Again, if it be fpoken of as a crown, 
it is reprefented as Incorruptible (2) ; acronvn of glory that 

fadeth not away ( 3 ).— And when it is called a kingdom, 

the Scripture does not only add, as here in the text, that 
it is the kingdom of God, which muft certainly exalt the 
idea of It ; but that it is a kingdom luhich cannot he mo'ued 
(4), an everlajling kingdom (5 ) : nay, to carry our thoughts 
to the hlgheil degree of dignity and glory, it is fpoken of 
as ci fitting down with Chrift on his throne (6). 

But farther, the value of thefe illuftrious reprefenta- 
tions is much enhanced, if we confider the charader of 
the perfons by whom they are made. They were per- 
fons well acquainted with thefe things, having received 
their information from a Divine Revelation, and from 
the immediate vifions of God. They w^ere alfo perfons 
of fuch fabllme and elevated fentiments, that they had a 
foverelgn contempt for all the enjoyments of time and 
fenfe, even thofe which the generality of mankind fet the 
greateft value upon : and counted all things hut I of s for the 
knowledge of Chrijl (7 ), and the tejllmony of a good confclence 
(8), while they looked not at temporal, hut at eternal things 
(9). They could deliberately, conftantly, and even 
cheerfully refign all the riches, and honours, and carnal 
pleafures, which they might have purchafed by their 
apoftafy from religion ; and were ready to embrace 
bonds, imprifonments, or death itfelf, when it met them 

in the w^ay of their duty. Now certainly a glory, with 

which fuch holy, wife and heroic perfons v/ere fo paffion- 
ately enamoured, and which theydefcribe with fuch pathos 
of language, and fuch extacy of delight, while they w^ere 
trampling with fo generous a difdain on every thing 
which earth calls good and great, muft deferve our very 
attentive regard. And this it yet more evidently will 
appear to do, if we confider, 

2. "It is the ftate and world, which God has prepar- 
ed for the difplay of his glory, and the entertainment of 
the moft favoured of his creatures.'* 

(r) Rev. ill. iz. (a) i Cor. ix. 25. (3) i Pet. v. 4. 

(4) Heb. xil. 28. (5) a Pet. i. 11. (6) Rev. iii. 21. 

(7) Phil. iii. 8. (8) % Cor. i. la. (9) % Cor. iv. 18. 



124 SERMON YU 

This argument feems to be hinted at, when it Is fai J, 
(as In the place I referred to before) eye hath not fee n^ nor 
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things 
^jjhlch God hath prepared for them that love him ( i ). God 
well knows the capacity of his creatures, and how much 
happlnefs they ai'e able and fit to receive ; and he caa 
iill their capacities to the utmoft ; nay, he can farther 
enlarge them to what degree he pleafes, that tliey may 
admit fuperior degrees of glory and felicity. A happi- 
nefs, therefore, which he has prepared on purpofe to dif- 
|)lay the riches of his magnificence and love, and to 
fhew what he can do to delight his creatures, muft cer- 
tainly be in fome meafure proportionable, if I may fo 
exprefs it, to the infinity (:>i his ow^n facred perfe<5lions» 
Let us then feriouily confider who God is; and atten- 
tively dwell in our meditation on the extent of his power, 
and the riches of his bounty; and our conception of the 
happinefs of heaven muft be raifed to fomething more 
glorious, than the moft emphatical words can perfectly 
defcribe. 

And here, to afiiil our Imagination In fome degree, let 
us look round us, cind take a furvey of this vifible world. 
This earth, hcv>^ conveniently has he furniflied it, how 
beautifully has he difpofed it, how richly has he adorned 
it ! What various and abundant provifion has he made 
for the fubfiftence, the accommodation, and the entertain- 
m-ent of the creatures that inliabit it ! and efpecially of 
man, in whom, this fcheme and fyftem of things appears to 
centre, and to whom it is all moft wifely and gracioufly re-, 
fcrred 1 Yet earth is the habitation of a race of mean and 
degenerate creatures, who are but in a Pcate of trial; nay, it 
is the habitation of thoufands and ten thoufands of God's 
incorrigible enemies, with whom he is angry every day (2)* 
Already it is marked with fome awful charadlers of the 
Divine difpleafure ; and the Scripture allures us, that it 
is referved unto f re, againfi the day of judgment, and perdition 
of ungodly men (3). Yet even this earth is not a fpe<fca- 
cle unworthy our regard ; nor can we, if we allow our- 
felves to furvey it with becoming attention, behold it 

(i) I Cor, ii. 9. (2) Pfjil. vL II. (3) 1 Pet. iii. 7- 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. 1 25 

"Without an afFedIng mixture of admiration, of love, and 
of joy : paflions that will ilrike us yet more powerfully, 
if from this earth of ours we ralfe our eyes to the vifible 
heavens ; and there behold the glory of the fun, the 
brightnefs of the moon, and all the numerous hofts of 
heaven that attend in her train. Who that confiders, 
with any degree of attention, their magnitude, their 
luftre, their motion, and their influence, can forbear cry- 
ing out. Oh Lord our Lordy hoiv excellent is thy name in all 
the earthy who hajl fet thy glory above the heavens ( I ) 1 And 
when, with even thefe in our view, we further refled^, 
that there is another apartment, as yet invifible, of which 
this fpangled firmament is but, as it were, the fliining 
vail ; an apartment, where the great Creator and Gov- 
ernor of all has fixed his ftated refidence, and ere(5ted the 
throne of his glory ; even that throne which is forever 
furrounded by all the moft holy and excellent of his. crea- 
tures ; we muft be convinced, it is fomething more beau- 
tiful, and more magnificent than this harmonious fyflem 
itfelf. And, methinks, when we have faid more beauti- 
ful and more magnificent than this, imagination is ready 
to fail us, and to leave the mind dazzled and overwhelm- 
ed with an effulgency of luftre which it cannot delineate, 
and can fcarce fuftain. Yet will our venerable apprehen- 
fions of it be farther affifted, if we confider, 

3. That the kingdom of heaven is "the great pur- 
chafe of the blood of God's only begotten Son ;" and 
therefore to be fure it muft be inconceivably valuable. 

If you are at all acquainted with your Bibles, you muft 
know that we are by fm in a ft ate of alienation from 
God (2) ; that we had forfeited all our title to his love, 
and^ftood juftly expofed to his fevere difpleafure ; and 
that it is jfefus who delivered us from the wrath to come (3). 
Now if we owe it to his merit and atonement that we 
live (4), much more are we to afcribe it to him, if we are 
raifed to any fuperior degree of happinefs. If God 
could not, with honour to his juftice, have fuffered us, 
without fuch a propitiation, to have palfed oiFwith im- 

(i) Pfai. viii. I. (a) Ephef. iv. 18. (3) i Thefi: i. 10. 
(4) I. John iv. 9. 

L 2 



126 SERMON VT, 

punlty ; much Icfs could lie, without It, have received 
us to his embraces, and have advanced us X.oJlt with him 
on his throne (i). Accordingly it is faid of tlie bleired 
rcai'tyrs in the heavenlj' world, even of thofe who had fo 
^lorioufly diftinguifhed their fidelity and zeal, and loved 
not their Irces unto the death ( 2 ) ; that they had nvaj}:ed 
their rohe&y and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (3) ^ 
and they gratefully acknowledge it in their hymns of 
praife, that Chri/l had redeemed them to God by his blood, and 
had made them kings and priejls unto God ( 4 ) . 

Now let us ferioufly reflect, and confider what this- 
blood of the Lamb is. The apollle Peter tells us, that 
fdver and gold ^ and all the peculiar treafures of kings and 
princes, are but corruptible things (5), or perifliiiig and 
worthlefs trifles, when compared with it. And no won- 
der it is reprefented in fuch exalted language, when we 
confider it was the blood of the only begotten Son of 
God, who \% the brightnefs o/'his father' s^/<?/3f, and the ex- 
prejs image of his perfon (6), and indeed one with him (7), 
being pcireffed of a nature truly and properly divine ; fo 
that it is called the blood of God (8). We may well ar- 
gue, even from thefe tranfient furveys, that it v/as fome 
important happinefs, VN^hich he came to procure at fo ex- 
penfive a rate. Had an angel been fent down from 
heaven, we fhould naturally have concluded, it muft 
have been upon fome momentous errand : furely the% 
when the Lord of angels comes down, not only to live 
en earth, but to expire in bitter agonies on the crofs, ta 
purchafe a benefit for us, we mxay be well afTured, that 
this benefit muft be very confiderable. Our Lord Jefus 
Chrift muft certainly fet a very great value upon it, or 
he would not have purchafed it at fuch a price : and we 
are fare, the value that he apprehended in it muft be its 
true value. He could not be impofed upon by any 
falfe appearance of glory and fplendour : he defpifed, 
with a juft and generous contempt, all the kingdoms of the 
worldy and the glory of them {9) : and he was alfo well ac- 
quainted with the celeftial kingdom, having fo long 

(t) Rev. iii. 21. (2) Rev. xli. 1 1. (3) Rev, vit. 14. 

(4) Rev. V. 9, la (^) i Pet. i. 18, 19, (6) Heb. i. ^. 

(7) John X. 30. (8j Acts 21 -2.1. (9) Mat. iv. 8. ja 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION* 12J 

dwelt in it, and fo long prefided over it : yet fo highlf 
does he efteem it, that he fpeaks of it upon all occafions, 
as the higheft poffible gift of Divine bounty, the richeft 
preparation and nobleft contrivance of Divine love : 
yea, he regards it as a felicity fo great, that when he 
condu(5ls his people into it, witli the lafl: folemn pomp of 
the judgment-day, it is faid, hejhallfee of the tranyail of his 
fouly and be fatlsfied ( i ), allowing it to be a juft equivalent 
for all he has done, and all he has fufFered in fo glorious 
a caufe. 

4. The excellency of the heavenly kingdom will fur- 
ther appear, if we confider, that " it is the main work of 
the Spirit of God upon men's hearts, to prepare them; 
for an admittance into it.'* 

You well know, that the blefled Spirit of God is fpok- 
en of as that Divine Agent, by whom all the hojls of heaven 
nvere created^ and all God's various works produced (2) ; 
and it is he that knows the th'wgs of God even as the human 
fptr'tt knows the things of a man (5). Now it is his pecu- 
liar office in the economy of our redemption, to form 
the foul to a meetnefs for glory. Accordingly, when 
the apoftle Paul had been reminding the Corinthians^ 
that while they continued in their fmful ftate, they were 
unfit for the kingdom of God, he adds. But ye are wajh^ 
ed^ hut ye are fanBiJledy hut ye are jujlijied, in the name of the 
Lordjifusy and ly the Spirit of our God (4). 

That the Spirit fhould condefcend to engage at all in 
fuch a work, muft give us a very fublime idea of the 
end at which it aims. But much more will that idea be 
laifed, when we confider with what a vaiiety, and what 
a conftancy of operations he begins, continues, and per- 
feds it. He attempts it, (as we fhall hereafter more 
particularly fhew you) fometimes bv convidions of ter- 
ror, and fometimes by infmuations of love ; and by one 
method or another, in the hearts of all the heirs of this 
glory, he works fo great a change, that it is reprefented 
by turning a heart ofjlone into a heart offlejh ( 5 ) , by raifng 
the dead from their graves (6), yea, by producing a nezo 

(i) Ifa. liv. II. (2) Job xxxiii.4. Pf. xxxiii, 6. (3) i Cor. ii. ii. 
(4) I Cor. vl. II, (5) Ezek.xxxvi, %(), (6) Ezek. xxxvii. 13, 

Eph. ii. Si^* 



128 SERMON VI. 

creation (i). For this does he watch over the foul %\'ith 
the tendered care, and continues his friendly offices, to 
recover it from relapfes, and gradually to form it to ad- 
vancing degrees of fanclity, till at length it be enabled 
to perfed holinefs in the fear of God (2). Nay, fo intent is 
this Sacred Agent on the important work, that when fm- 
ners moft infolently and ungratefully re]e<51: him, and by 
refifting him oppofe their own happinefs, he does not 
immediately leave them ; he flrikes them again and 
again ; and waits upon them for fucceeding days, and 
months, and years : and when, perhaps, thefmcere convert 
makes the moft ungrateful return for the experience of 
his goodnefs, even after he has acknowledged, and at 
length obeyed it : when under the fatal tranfport of 
fome ungoverned paffion, and the influence of fome 
ftrong temptation, he ads as if he were intent upon 
tearing dowTi the work of the Spirit of God upon 
his foul, and driving him forever away ; yet in how 
many inftances does he return again after all thefe inju- 
ries, pleading the caufe of God with a fweetly prevail- 
ing eloquence, and thus healing the wound, and re- 
pairing the breach, and making it perhaps ftronger than 
before I And all this, for what ? That the happy fubjedl 
of all thefe kind operations may be formed to a fitnefs 
for the kingdom of heaven. — And are we to regard 
this blelTed Spirit as an unm.eaning agent, or as incapa- 
ble of judging of the importance of this end for which 
he aifts ? Is that almighty energy of his employed in an 
infignincant manner ? Surely Nicodemus, flow of under- 
ftanding as he was, muft apprehend the importance of en- 
tering into the kingdom of heaven., when he heard, that in 
order to be admitted to it, a fnan muji be born of the Spirit, 
And let me add once more, 

5. That the excellency of the heavenly kingdom may 
further be argued " from the eagernefs with which the 
enemy of fouls is endeavouring to prevent our entrance 
into it." 

You know the devil is always reprefented as the in- 
veterate enemy of our happinefs. His rage is exprelfed 

(^) % Ccr. V. 17. Eph, ii, 10. (2) % Cor. vii. i. 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. lag 

by that of a roaring Hon, that lualls ah out, feeling luhom he 
may devour ( i ) : and with unwearied diligence he is con- 
tinually employed in forming and purfuing his tempta- 
tions : And this Is the grand defign of all, that he may 
exclude us from the promifed felicity. While fmners 
are In their unregenerate ftate, he endeavours to engage 
all their regards to the objects of time and fenfe ; and 
for that purpofe he continually prefents them with a va- 
riety of entertainments and amufements fuited to their 
I'efpedtive tempers and circumftances. If they are 
awakened to any ferlous concern about their eternal fal- 
vatlon, he ufes his utmoft addrefs to divert their minds 
from an attendance to it : and for this purpofe he dif- 
plays before them all the allurements of fm in Its mod 
engaging forms, and If they are not captivated with 
thefe, he often puts on a f;:ice of terror, and endeavours 
to affright them from religion by the moft gloomy rep- 
refentatlons of it, or by horrible and diftrading fuggef- 
tions, " that it is now forever too late to attain it.'* 
Or If Divine Grace furmount all this oppofition, and 
the finner refolutely choofes his portion in heaven, and 
puts his foul into the hands of Chrift to be conduced to 
it ; the maUce of Satan purfues him even to that facred 
retreat, which he has fought in the arms of his Saviour : 
and if he cannot prevent the foul from entering into hea- 
ven, he will at leaft labour to bring it into fuch a ftate 
of negligence, and to feduce it into thofe delays and re- 
lapfes, which may divert its regards to that blefTed 
world, which may cloud its evidences of it, and may at 
leaft, as much as poffible, dimlnifh the degree of its glo- 
ry there. 

Now permit me, in this Inftance, to turn the artillery 
of this cunning enemy agalnft himfelf, and to argue the 
excellency of this kingdom, from the zeal and attach- 
ment with which he endeavours to obftru(5t your attain- 
ing it. Though Satan be now a very degenerate crea* 
ture, he was once an angel of light, and ftill retains 
much of the knowledge, though he has loft the redltude 
and integrity of the angelic nature. And he particular- 
ly knows what heaven Is, becaufe he was once an inhabi- 

(i) I Pet. V. B, 



130 SERMON VU 

tant there ; and ^v}lile he is endeavoiirhig to perfuade 
the finner to prefer eardi before it, he does, by that 
very endeavour, inconteRibly prove, that he himfelf 
knows the contrary, and is fully apprized that there is 
nothing here to be compared with the feh* city of the 
future ftate. And therefore while he feeks the deilruc- 
tion of the foul, he can leave it in the enjoyment of all 
its worldly profperity ; nay, he will attempt to lead him 
into methods, by which this profperity may be promot- 
ed and increafed. 

And thus, Sirs, I have endeavoured a little to repre- 
fent to you, what this kingdom of heaven is, from which 
we are affured that unconverted fmners Ihall forever be 
excluded. I have argued its excellency — from the rep- 
refentations which are made of it in the vford of God — 
from its being the preparation of Divine love — from its 
being the purchafe of a Redeemer's blood — and the end 
to which, on the one hand, the glorious operations of 
the ble/Ted Spirit lead — and of which, on the other hand> 
all the flratagems and afTaults of the prince of darknefs 
are intended to deprive us. — 1£, therefore, there be truth 
in Scripture, if there be wifdom in heaveUjOr policy in hell, 
it muft furely be infinitely important. And will any of 
you be fuch mean-fpirited creatures, as, when this happi- 
nefs is prcpofed to you, bafely to relinquifh the purfuit of 
it, and to facrifice this bleifed hope to any perifhing trifle 
of mortal life. Surely it would be madnefs ; though noth- 
ing more v/ere to be apprehended than the lofs of it ; 
and though, when heaven were loft, all that earth can 
give fhould remain, if not to counterbalance the lofs, 
yet at leaft to make you lefs fenfible of it. But the 
weight of the argument w41i much more evidently ap- 
pear, if you confider, 

[2.] What will at laft become of all thofe who are 
excluded from this heavenly kingdom. 

And here I befeech you to afk your own confciences, 
whether they be not inwardly perfuaded, — that thofe 
who are excluded from heaven, will remain in a ftate of 
exiftence, in which they will be ever fenfible of their lofs, 
— and will be delivered over by Divine vengeance into 
that fea.t of torment, which God has prepared for the 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. I3I 

punifhment of his implacable and incorrigible enemies. — . 
This many of you do undoubtedly believe of fuch per- 
fons in general ; believe it, therefore, of yourfelves, if 
you are, and continue, in an unregenerate ilate. 

I. "You will ftill continue in a ftate of exiftence, in 
which you will be ever fenfible of your lofs/' 

It might aiford fome wretched kind of confolation to 
you, if, as foon as you died out of this world, your being 
or your apprehenfive powers were immediately to ceafe. 
Then the lofs of heaven would only be an affliction to 
you in your dying moments, when you fav/ the enjoy- 
ments of earth were come to an end, and that you muft 
have no part in any future happinefs. But alas. Sirs, 
you cannot but know that when your bodies are dead, 
and confumed in their graves, your thinking faculties 
Will ftill be continued to you : and oh, that you would 
ferioully reflecft, how they will then be employed ! You 
will then be thinking what you have done in life, w^hat 
you have chofen for your happinefs, and what has been 
the confequence of that choice. You v/ill look round in 
vain for fuch accommodations and pleafures as you were 
once moft fond of: but they will be no more ; and 
when you perceive them vanifhed, like the vifionary 
amufements of a dream, you w411 lift up your aftonifted 
eyes towards the regions of glory. And you indeed 
will have a lively view of them : but to what purpofe 
v/iil that view ferve ? Only through the righteous ven- 
geance of God to aggravate your mifery and defpair. 
** Alas,'* wnll you think " there are millions of creatures 
yonder in heaven, who are rejoicing in the fight and fa^ 
your of God, and are as fall of happinefs as their natures 
can contain, and (hall be fo forever ; while I am cut off 
from all fhare in the Divine bounty. Rivers of pleafure 
are flowing in upon them, v/hlle not one drop is fent 
dow^n to me ; nor could I obtain it, though I were to 
a(k the favour from the lead of ChriiVs fervants there. 
I am caft out as an accurfed wretch, with whom God 
and his holy and bleffed creatures will have no farther 
intercourfe, or communion : and why am 1 thus caft 
out ? and why am I thus cut off from God's fovour, 
and driven from his prefence, while fo many that 
dwelt v^ith mc on earth are admitted to it ? 



132 SERMON VI. 

My nature was originally as capable of happinefs as 
theirs : and though it was fadly degenerate, it might, 
like theirs, have been renewed. God was once offering 
. me that grace, by which my difordered foul might have 
been transformed, and I might have been fitted for the 
regions of glory : but I defpifed all thefe offers, and 
gave the preference to thofe fading vanities, which, alas ! 
have forever forfakcn me. And now they that nvere ready 
are gone In to the delightful banquet, and the door is 
Jhut ( I ) ; the everlafting gates are fhut forever, and bar- 
red againft me. And here I muft lie at this miferable 
diilance, envying and raging at their happinefs, of 
which, whatever fight or knowledge I may have of it, 
I muft never, never, never partake !^' 

Such refledtions as thefe, Sirs, will cut deep into your 
fouls ; and accordingly our Lord declares to impenitent 
finners in his own days, There Jlmll he weeping and gnajloing 
of teeth, -when you fee others ftt'ing down in the hngdom of 
God, and you yourfehes thriift out (2 ). And if you would 
refle<fl, you might eafily apprehend this. How would 
you be enraged at yourfelves, if by your folly you had 
negle<fted fecuring a plentiful eftate, when is was offered 
to you on the moft eafy terms ; and you adlually faw 
others, once your equals, and perhaps your inferiors, in 
the pofTeffion of it, in confequence of having taken thofe 
methods v/hich you ftupidly negle<5led ? the refledlion, I 
doubt not, would very much impair tlie pleafure you 
might find in other comfortable and agreeable circum- 
ftances. How much more infupportable then v^^ill the 
lofs of heaven appear to you, when you come to fee, 
and know, what it is you have loft, and have nothing 
to relieve or fupport you, under the painful recolledion ? 
It is to no purpofe to objed, that upon the principles 
of my laft difcourfe, there will be no room to lament 
your exclufion from thofe entertainments, vrhich you 
would be incapable of relilhing if you were admitted to 
them : for you will then fee, and lament that incapacity 
as a very great mlfeiy. i^s if a man, who was natural- 
ly fond of feafting and mirth, fliould fee a great many 
regaling themfelves, and revelling about him., while ,he 

(i) Mat. xxy. 10. (2) Luk^ xiii. %%, 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. I33 

was languifliing under fome painful dlftemper, winch 
xxiade him incapable of joining in the entertainment ; he 
would yet grieve that he had no part in it : and it 
w^ould be the increafe, rather than the alleviation of his 
uneafniefs, that it was his ficknefs which unfitted him 
for it ; efpecially if, as in your cafe, it was a ficknefs, 
which he had brought upon himfelf by his own folly, 
and for which he had been offered an eafy, pleafant, and 
infalHble remedy, which he had refufed to ufe till the 
malady was grown utterly incurable. One would ima- 
gine, this thought would be enough to imprefs you ; 
but if it do not, let me entreat, and even charge you, to 
confider, 

2. That if you are excluded from the kingdom of 
heaven, ^' you will be configned over to thofe regions of 
dai^knefs, defpair, and mifery, which God has prepared 
for thofe unhappy criminals, who are the objefe of his 
Hnal difpleafure, and whom he will render everlaixing 
monuments of his wrath." 

There is fomething in human nature, that ftarts back 
at the thought of annihilation with flrong reludance : 
and yet how many thoufands are there in this niiferable 
world, who would v/ith all their fouls fly to it as a re- 
fuge ! They Jld all feeh deaths as an infpired v/riter (Irongly 
expreffes it, andjhall not Jind it ; andjhall defire to die, and 
death Jh all Jlee from them ( i ). I will not attempt to enter 
into a detail of the horrors, attending the place and ftate, 
into which all who are excluded from the glories of the 
heavenly world Ihall be caft, and in which they fhall be 
fixed. Let that one awful Scripture fuffice for a fpeci- 
men of many more ; in which we are told, that e-oery one 
nvhofe name was not found written in the hook of life, (or who 
was not regiftered in the number of thofe, who v/ere to 
inhabit the New Jerufalem, or the kingdom of heaven) 
was cajl into the lake of fire (2), or, as it is afterwards ex- 
preffed, into the lake that burns with fire and hrhnfione [2,), 
Think of this, and aflc your own hearts, you that arc fo 
impatient of the little evils of mortal life, v/hether you 
can endure to take up your abode forever in devouriug 

(i) Rev. ix, 6. {%) Rev. xx. 15. (3) Rev. xii. 8. 

M 



134 SERMON VI. 

fire, or whether you can dwell luUh everhiftlng burnings ( i ) ? 
Yet thefe are the images by which the word of God rcp- 
refents it ; to be plunged as in a fea of liquid fire, whofe 
flames are exafperated and heightened, by being fed 
with brimflone ; nay, as the Prophet fpeaks, by a copi- 
ous ftream of brimflone, fo exprefsly appointed by God 
himfelf, that this, as well as the river of the ivater of life^ 
is reprefented as proceeding immediately from him : he 
has made Tophet deep and large : the pile thereof is jire and 
ranch ivood^ and the breath of the Lord^ like ajiream of brim^ 
Jione^ does kindle it (2). 

It is painful to a tender mind to think of this, as what 
its fellow-creatures are obnoxious to : it is grievous to 
fpeak of it in thefe dreadful terms. But who are we, 
that we fhould be more merciful than God ? Or rather, 
how can we imagine it is mercy, to avoid fpeaking of 
the appointment of infinite wifdom, for the punifhment 
of impenitent fnmers ? What mercy were that, Sirs, to 
s.void to mention thefe terrors to you, and to negle(5l to 
warn you of them, becaufe they are great? which is 
indeed the very reafon why the Scripture thus pathetic- 
ally defcribes them. 

Away therefore with this foolifh, this treacherous 
compaflion, which choofes rather to leave men to be con- 
fumed, than to difturb their {lumbers 1 Think, Sirs, of 
that wretched glutton, whom Chrift defcribes as lifting up 
his eyes in hell, being in torments ; feeing the regions of the 
bleffed at an unapproachable diftance, and begging in 'vain 
that one drop of luater might be fent to cool his tongue, 
amidll all the raging thirft with which he was tormented 
in this fame (3). Regard it attentively; for as God 
lives, and as your foul lives, if you continue in an unre- 
newed ftate, you fee in that wretch the very image and 
reprefentation of yourfelves. Yes, fmners, I teftify it to 
you this day, that intolerable as it feems, it will on that 
fuppofition be your own certain fate ; or to fpeak much 
more properly, your righteous, but inevitable doom. 
Heaven and earth will defert you in that dreadful hour : 
or, if the inhabitants of both were to join to intercede for 
you, it would be in vain. Sentence will be paft, and 
execution done : Hell will open its mouth to receive you, 

(i) Lfa, xxxiii. 14. (2) If'a. xxx. 33. (3) •'^•uke xvi. %2. »4- 



IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION. I35 

and fliut It again forever to enclofe you, with tlioufands, 
and ten tlioufands more, among whom you will not find 
one to comfort you, but every one ready to afflidl you. 
Then fhall you know the value which God fets upon his 
heavenly kingdom, by the judgments he infiids upon you 
for negleding and defpifmg it ; and then Ihall you know 
the importance of being born again, that only means by 
which Hell can be avoided, and Heaven fecured. 

And let me farther add, that convidion will quickly 
come in this terrible way, if you are not now prevailed 
upon to confider thefe things ; things which, if you have 
the leaft regard to the word of God, you cannot but no- 
li onally believe. Do not then go about to annihilate 
(as it were) thefe profpedls to your mind, by placing 
them at a long diftance. The diftance is not fo great as 
to deferve a mention : The patience of God will not 
wait upon you for tlioufands, or even hundreds of years : 
you have a few mortal days, in which to confider of the 
matter ; or rather, you have the prefent moment to con- 
fider of it. And if you improve the opportunity, it is 
well ; but if not, the juft and uniform methods of the di- 
vine adminiftration Ihall proceed, though it fhould be 
to your ruin. God has vindicated the honours of his vi- 
olated law, and defpifed gofpel, upon millions, who with 
the rebel-angels, by whom they have been feduced, are 
even now referved in everlajiing chains under darknefsy unto 
the judgment of the great day (i) ; and he will as furely 
vindicate them upon you. If you do not repent, if you are 
not regenerate, youjball all likewife perijh (2), and not one 
of you fhall efcape. 

And thus I clofe this copious and important argument : 
this argument, in which life and death, falvation and 
damnation are concerned. View it, my friends, in all its 
connexion, and fee in what part of it the chain can be brok- 
en. ^ Will you fay, that without regeneration you can fecure 
an intereft in the kingdom of heaven, though the confti- 
tution of heaven oppofe it, and all the declarations of 
God's v/ord ftand diredly againft it ; and though nature 
itfelf proclaim, and confcience teftify your incapacity to 
enjoy it ? Or will you fay, that being excluded from it, 
you fhall fuiFer no confiderable damage, though you lofe 

(i) Jude, verfe 6. (2) Luke xiii. 3. 



12^ 



SERMON VI* 



fo glorious a flate, the nobleft prepara-tion of Divine 
love, the purcliafe of redeeming blood, and the end of 
the Spirit's operation on the foul ; though you ever re- 
main fenfible of your lofs, and be configned over to dwell 
in that flaming prifon, which God has prepared for the 
devil and his angels, and v/here all the terrors of his right- 
eous judgments are made known ? 

But if you are indeed inwardly convinced of the truth 
and importance of thefe things^ and will go away, and 
act as before, without any regard to them, I can fay no 
more. The reafon of man, and the word of God can 
point out no ftronger arguments, than an infinite good 
on the one hand, and an infinite evil en the other. 

Hear, therefore, O/j heavens, and give ear, earth/ and 
let angels and devils join their afloniihment ; that crea- 
tures, who would ilrenuouily contend, and warmly exert 
themielvcs, I v/ill not fiy merely for an earthly king- 
dom, but in an affair where only a fev/ pounds, or per- 
haps a few ihiliings or pence v/ere concerned, are indif- 
ferent here, where, by their own confelEon, a happy or 
miferable eternity is inquellion. For indifferent, I fear, 
fome of you are and will continue. I have reprefented 
thefe things in the integrity of my heart, as in the fight 
of God, not in artful forms of fpeech,but in the genuine 
language, which the flrong em^otions of my own foul, in 
the views of them, moil naturally di<5lated. Yet I think 
it not at all im.probable, that fome of you, and fome per- 
haps who do not now im.agine it, will, as fcon as you re- 
turn home, divert your thoughts and difcourfes to other 
objects ; and may perhaps, as heretofore, lie down upon 
your beds without fpending one quarter of an hour, or 
even one ferious minute, in lamenting your miferable 
itate before God, and feeking that help and deliverance 
w^hich his grace alone can give. But if you thus lie 
dowm, make, if you can, a covenant ^dulth death, that it may 
not break in upon your flumbers ; and an agreement nvUh 
hell (i), that before the return of the morning, it may 
not flafh in upon your carelefs ibuls another kind of con« 
viclion, than they will now receive from the voice of rea- 
fon and the word of God» 

(i) Ifa. xxviii. I J* 



SERMON VII. 



OF THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES TO PRO-» 
DUCE REGENERATION IN THE SOUL. 



Titus hi. 5, 6, 

Not ly works ef right eoufnefs, which we have done, but accord" 
ing to his mercy he fwued usy by the wajhing of regeneration^ 
and renewing of the Holy Ghojl ; which hejhed on us abun- 
dantly^ through Jefus Chrijl our Saviour, 

IF my bufmefs were to explain and illuftrate this Scrip- 
ture at large, it would yield an ample field for accu- 
rate criticifm and ufeful difcourfe, and more efpecially 
would lead us into a variety of pradical remarks, on 
which it would be pleafant to dilate in our medita- 
tions. It evidently implies, "that thofe, who are the 
faved of the Lord, are brought to the pradlice of good 
works ;" without w\i\ch. faith is dead (i), and all preten« 
ces to a faving change are not only vain, but infolent. 
Yet it plainly teftifies to us, " that our falvation, and ac- 
ceptance with God, is not to be afcribed to thefe, but to 
the Divine mercy ; which mercy operates by fandtifying 
our hearts, through the renewing influence of the Holy- 
Spirit :'' And "that there is an abundant efFufion of 
this Spirit under the Gofpel,*' which is therefore, with 
great propriety, called the min'i/lration of the Spirit {2)^ 
and the law of the Spirit of life in Chr'ijl Jefus (3)* 

(i) James ii, 17, {%) a Cor. iil. 8. (3) Rooi. vHL %. 

M % 



138 SERMON VIL 

But I mure neccfiarilv, in purfuance of 1117 general 
fcheme, wave feveral of thefe remarks, that I may leave 
myf^lf room to infiif on the grand topic I intend from 
ihc words. 

I have already fnewn you, who may be faid to be in 
an uaregenerate ftate : 1 have alfo defcribed the change 
which regeneration m.akes in the foul ; and have largely ^^^ 
fhewn' you, in the three lail: Difcourfes, the abfolute n^- 
^effity and importance of it. i\nd now I proceed, 

Fourthly, To fiiew the mce£ity there is of the agency 
of the Divine power, in order to produce tliis great and 
ImporLant change. 

This is ftrongly implied in the words of the text : in 
which the Apoflle, fpeaking of the method God has been 
pleafed to take for the difpiay of his goodnefs in the fal- 
vation and happinefs of fallen men, gives us this affeding 
view of it, that it is not by works ' of rtghteoufnefs %Mch ^e^ 
i. e. any of us Chriftians, have done^ but according to his 
free grace and mercy that he hsis/aved usy by the wajhingy 
cr (as it might be rendered) the laver of regenerai'ton^ and 
the renetulng of ih Hdy Gbq/f. 

I fhall be ready to acknowledge, v^ith the generality 
of ancient and modtxn interpreters, ihat baptifm-may 
probably here be called the laver of regeneration ; God 
having appointed, that as new-bcrn children; arii waflied, 
fo they, who by the influences cf his grace on their 
hearts are born again, fbould in token of their repentance 
for the fins of their pair life, be V7s fned v/ith baptifmal 
water, fuppofmg (which was here apparently the cafe in 
this early age of Chriftianity) they had not received that, 
ordinance in their infarcy. Nevei thelefs^ left any fhould 
imagine, that an external ceremony was fufficient, or 
that it v/as the chief thing intended, the ApoRle takes the 
matter higher. And as the apoiile Feter tells us, that the 
haptifm which faucs us is not merely the putting away the 
Jtilh of thefiifh^ but the anfivcr of a good corfciencs tczuards 
God ( I ) ; fo the apoftle Paul here adds, that we are fav- 
ed by the renewing of the Hcly Qhojl : by which I can by- 
no means underitand fomething entirely diftin(5l from, 
una fubfcquent to his regenerating influences 5 for ac* 

(?) I Pet. iii, %i. 



NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. I39 

cording to the view of regeneration ftated in our fomnter 
Pifcourfes, none can be regenerated who are not renew- 
ed :■ but it feenns to explain the former claufe, and to re» 
fer to the more pofitive efFe6t produced by Divine grace 
on the foul, v/herehy Chriftians are not only purified 
from fill, but difpofed to, and quickened in, a courfe of 
holy obedience. And then he further tells us, that this 
Spirit is the' gift of God^ and is plentifully comm.unicated to 
us in the name, and through the hands of the bleffed 
Redeemer, being Jhed on us abundantly by Gody through jfe^ 
fus Chrifi our Saviour* 

Agreeably therefore to the general dt^i^n and pur* 
port of thefe words, I fhall go on to demonfirate the ab- 
folute neceffity of a Divine agency and operation in this 
gr^at work of' our regeneration ; which I (hall do from a 
variety of topics. And here 1 fhail iludioufly wave 
many controverfies, with v/hich the Chriftian world has 
been affli<5ted, and the founded part of it difturbed, with 
relation to the kind and manner of this influence. I will 
not fo much as mention them, and much lefs difcufs 
them ; leji Satan fioidd take an advantage of us (i), to di-- 
vert our minds from what is effential in this dodlrine, to 
what Is merely circumilantial. Only let it be obferved 
in general, that I fpeak of "fuch an agency of God oi^ 
our minds, as offers no violence to die rational and ac- 
tive nature which God has given us, nor does by any 
means fuperfede our obligation to thofe duties which his 
V7ord requires ; but on the contrary, cures and perfeds 
bur nature, and difpofes the foul to a regard to fuch in- 
cumbent duties, and ftrengthens it in the difcharge of 
them.'' With this only preliminary, which appears to 
jfte highly important, I proceed to fbev/ the reafonable-*' 
nefs of afcribing this change to a Divine Agency, rather 
than to any thing elfe, which may be fuppofed to have 
any ftiare in producing it. And we may infer this, 

[i.] " From the general and neceffary dependence of 
the whole created world upon God.'' 

There was a philofophical, as well as Divine truth, in 
that obfervation of the apoftle Paul at Athens, which 
was well worthy the mod learned aifembly ; In him^ i» e. 

(i) I Cor.ii. II, 



140 SERMO>T VII. 

in God, we live, and move, and have our being ( i ). Such is 
the innate weaknefs of created nature, that it continually 
depends on a DIvuie fupport. The very idea of its 
behig created, fuppofes that it had no caufe of its ex- 
iftence, but the Divine will, in the firfl moment of it ; 
and if it could not then fubiiR without that will, in the 
firfl moment of its exiftence, it neither could fubfift 
without it in the feccnd, or in any future moment of it : 
fmce to have been dependent for a while, can never be 
fuppofed to render any thing for the future independent. 
The continued exiftence then of all the creatures, no lefs 
of angels, than of worms, or trees, or ftones, does prop* 
erly depend upon the Divine energy which bears them 
up, and holds thofe of them in life which live, and thofe 
of the mi in being, which are inanimate, or without life. 

And if their being be dependent, then furely it will fol- 
lov7, that all their perceptive and aflive powers, whatfo- 
ever they are, mvl\ continually depend upon God ; for 
to exift with iiich powers is evidently more than iimply 
to exift ; and if a Divine agency be neceffary for the lat- 
ter, much more muft we allow it to be necelfary for the 
former. 

The human mind, therefore, with all its capacities and 
improvements, m.uft acknowledge itfelf perpetually in- 
debted to God, v;ho is the fountain of truth and wifdom> 
as well as of being : accordingly we are told, it is he that 
teacheih man hncnvledge ( 2 ). All xhtjhill of the hujhandman-^ 
in one pafTage of Scripture (3), and all the nvtfdom of tht 
art'tficer, in another (4), is afcribed to his influence : and 
if the improvement of the fciences, and any other dif- 
covery, which renders human life in any degree more 
commodious and agreeable, is to be afcribed to the 
Divine illumination and influence, then furely rt is from 
hence this art of living wifely and well muft alfo -be de* 
rived. All the viev/s upon which good refolutions are 
formed, all the ftrong imprefficns upon the mind ariling- 
from thefe views, and all the fteadrnefs and determina- 
tion of fpirit, which does not only form fuch purpofes, 
but carries them into execution, are plainly the effecfl of 

(i) A(5ls xvli. iZ, (1) Pfal. xciv. i. (3) Ifa.xxviiL x6» 
(4) Exod. xxxvi. I, :;. 



NECESSITY 0F DIVINE mFLUENCES. I4I 

the Divine agency on the mind ; without which no fec- 
ular affair s could be clearl)^ underllood, ftrenuoufly 
purfued, or fuccefsfully accomplifhed. And how pecu- 
liarly reafonable it is, to apply this remark to the point 
now in view, will appear by attending, 

[2.] To " the greatnefs and excellency of this change,'' 
which fpeaks it aloud to be the Divine work. 

I muft, upon this occafion, defire you to recolleifi: 
what I laid before you in feveral of the former difcourf- 
cs. • Think of the nev/ light that breaks in upon the un- 
derftanding ; of the new affections that are enkindled in 
the heart ; of the new^ refoliitions, by which the will is 
fweetly and powerfully, though moft freely influenced ; 
and think of the degree of vigour attending thefe refo- 
lutions, and introducing a feries of new labours ai^.p-^^ 
fuits ; and furely you muft confefs, that it is the finder of 
God; efpecially Vv^hen you con fider, how beautiful and 
excellent, as well as how great the work is. 

Do we acknov/ledge, that it was the voice of God 
that firft commanded the light to Jhine out of darinefs, and 
that it was worthy of a Divine agency to produce fa 
beautiful a creature as the fun, to gild the whole face of 
our world, and to drefs the diiFerent objecfls round us in 
fucli a various and vivid aifemblage of colours ? And 
fhall we not allow it to be much more worthy of him, 
td lighten up a benighted foul, and to reduce its chaos 

into harmony and order ?— Was it v/orthy of God to 

form the firft principles even of the vegetative life, in 
the lo we ft plant or herb, and to vifit with refrefhing 
influences of the rain and fun the earth wherein thefe 
feeds are fow^n ? And is it not much more worthy of 
him to implant the feed of the Divine life, and to nourifh 
it from time to time by the influence of his Spirit ? Did 
it fuit the Divine wifdom and mercy to provide for 
fuftaining our mortal lives, for healing our wounds, and 
recovering us from our difeafes ? And fhall it not much 
more fuit him, to adt as the great phyficlan of fouls, in 
reftoring them to eafe, to health, and vigour ? 

They muft be dead indeed to all fenfe of fpirltual. ex- 
cellency, who do not fee how much more illuftriollily^ 
God appears, when confidered as the author of grace^ 



i4« SERMON vir. 

than merely as the author of nature. For hideed all the 
works of nature, and all the inftances of Divine interpo- 
fition to maintahi its order and harmony, will chiefly 
appear valuable and important, when confidered in fub- 
ferviency to the gracious defign of recovering apoftate 
man from the ruin of that degenerate ftate, without 
which it had been far better for him never to have known 
being, and never to have inhabited a world fo liberally 
furniihed with a variety of good. And, therefore, I 
would appeal to every Chriftian, whether he does not 
find a much more ardent gratitude glowing in his heart 
v^hen he coniiders God as the author of the religious 
and divine, than merely of the animal or the rational life. 
And permit me here to remark, that, agreeably to 
thefe reafonings, fome of the pagan philofophers have 
faid very ferious and remarkable things concerning the 
reality and the need of Divine influences on the mind, 
for the produiflion of virtue and piety there. Thus 
Seneca, when he is fpeaking of a refemblance to the 
Deity in characfler, afcribes it to the influence of God 
upon the mJnd ; " Are you furprifed," fays he, " tliat 
man fliould approach to the gods ? It is God that comes 
to men ; nay, which is yet more, he enters into them ; 
for no mind becomes virtuous but by his afliftance."* 
Simplicious alfowas fo fenfible of the neceflity of fuch an 
influence, that he ** prays to God, as the father and 
guide of reafon, fo to co-operate v/ich us, as to purge us 
from all carnal and brutifh affections, that v/e may be en-- 
abled to a<5l according to the didates of reafon, and to 
attain to the true knowledge of himfelf." f And Max- 
imus Tyrius argues, agreeably to what was faid above, 
that ** if fkill in the profeilions and fciences is infinuated 
into men*s minds by a Divine influence, we can much 
lefs imagine, that a thing fo much more excellent, as 
f 

■* li^irar'is homznem ad Ddos ire ? Deus ad hcmlnes venti^ Imo, (quod 
pYoprius ejl) in homines "oenit : nulla fine Deo men^ bona tji^ He had 
faid but jaft before, Afcendentibus manum porr'igunt. 

Senec. Epijhl, ixxiii. 

-BT^Si'v, )t7A. Sirnplic. in Epi<5tet. adjin^ 



KECJESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. I43 

i^irtue Is, can be the work of any mortal art ; for flrange 
muft be the notion that we have of God, to think that" 
he is liberal and free in matters of lefs moment, and 
f4>arlng in the greateft.'^ * And in the fame difcourfe 
lie tells us, "that even the beft difpofed minds, as they 
are feated in the midft, between the higheft virtue and 
extreme wickednefs, need the affiflance and the help of 
God, to Incline and lead " them to the better fide."f ~I 
am fenlible that all thcfe phllofophers, with many more 
who fpeak to the ilime purpofe, living after Chrift^s 
time, may be fald to have learned fuch language from 
Chrlftians : and If they did fo, I wlfh all who have iince 
worn the name had been equally teachable ; but fome 
who appeared much earlier, fpeak much In the fame 
manner, J as I might eafily fhew you, if It were not 
already more than time to obferve, 

TO S'£ ml'jjv CTTiicvicjIipov Tm apilrv epfov uvui re^vv^ ^vy)1-ni' » 'CToKKv a^icv 
yojjci^ii; TO ^c/ov, ts-fv^T' /u.'cv TOi cpxvXx ¥.x\u:c y.xi ccphv:c; tya^Ecrxcuar^.jvov, 
^f<3^Si Tx xpsirh xxofGv, Max. Tyr. DifTert. xxii. 

•j- At xpt(xi v|'U^>if P'JTci^^ xfjL^pirQnVa-iy.ot cv /Xilpicj r)i; v.v.cx; xpi%Ci vfpo^ 
rm scr^xlijv fjLop/irpx)/ v^x'io.^pu.nTuivxiy ^=qv1xi ^uva^w/^w 0;^ y.xi ^vKKyithfo; 
T^jT iTTi ^alcpx Tx Kpiirlx ^on-ng y.xi ^npxhfix^. Max. Tyr. ibiJ, 

\ It is here remarkable, that Xenophon reprefents Cymsy with his 
dying breath, " as humbly afcribing it to a Divine injlucnce on his 
mind, that he had been taught to acknowledge the care of Provi- 
dence, and to bear his profperity with a becoming moderation :'* 

XioKKYi J*E v}^:'^ X^F^>* *^' y.ccyx iyiyvxa-v-ov tuv vi/,i1icxv, v.ai bis 'S!rc:rol€ 
i-ri TXic iu1v;)(_ixt; vn^ avSpcjrrov cir^pxvii<rx. Xen. Cyropajd. /i^. viii. cap, 
7. § I. And Socrates is introduced, by Plato, as declaring, "that 
v/herefoever virtue conies, it is apparently the fruit of a Divine 
drfpe.'faticn:* Onx fjcoi^x yjuiv ipxtM^,Xi z^xpxyiyvo/x.-v^ m xpilvy 01; -^xpayiy- 
v:-1xl Plat. Men. ad'. ^/z.^. 428. And to this purpvofe Plato has 
obferved, " that virtue is not to be taught but by Divine cjpjlance :" 
Ax\' tfl' «v hlccz,:iiM, H ^JLY) Qiioq xj^pyjyoilo. Epinom. pag. 10 1 4. And 
elfewhere he declares, ** that if any man efeape the temptations of 
life, and behave himfelf as becomes a worthy member of fociety, 
as the laws of it are generally fettled," which, by the way, is fome- 
thing very far fliort of religion, " he has reafon to own, that; it is 
God that laves him ;" Ev yx^ p^» ciSyivxiy n r^tp av (Tci'm Ti Y.XI yiv-niut 
oiov S-:t^ iv TOixvU kckIx^xo-h rzoXiler^v^ Ofv yoicav uvh (rdkriXi, De Repub, 
Hi. vi. j^ja-. 677. edit. Franc af iGo%. 



144 SERMON VII. 

[3.] That we may further argue the divine agency 
in this bleffed work, " from the violent oppofition over 
which it prevails in its rife and progrefs." 

The awakened foul, when labouring towards God, 
and afpiring after further communications of his grace to 
form it for his fervice, may juftly fay with David, Lord^ 
how are they mcreafed that trouble me? Honv many are they. that 
rife up xiga'mjl me{i) P With how many threatening dan- 
gers are we continually furrounded ! And what a nu- 
merous hoft of enemies are ready to oppofe us I 7'he law 
of filly that nvars in our members (2), and concerning whofe 
forces it may well be faid, their name is Legion^ for they are 
?nany{^) : The evil influence of a degenerate world, whofe 
corrupt examples prefs like a torrent, and require the moil 
vigorous efforts to bear up againft tliem : And in confed-; 
eracy with thefe, and at the head of all, the Prince of 
Darknefs, whofe counfels and efforts, with relation to 
this world of ours, do as it were centre in this one 
thing, to prevent men's regeneration ; becaufe it is by 
means of this, that thofe are recovered out of the fnare of the 
devil, 'who were before led captive by him at his will (4-). 

I perfuade myfelf, that when I am fpeaking on this 
head, though fome may imagine it to be mere empty 
harangue, and common place declamation, the ex- 
perienced foul Will atteft the truth of what I fay. It 
may be fome of you, who, by what of thefe fermons you 
have already heard, have come under fom^e ferious con- 
Tictions, and been awakened in good earnefl to be 
thoughtful about being born again, have felt fuch a 
ftruggle in your own minds, that you may fay, you nev- 
er knew before what the fef/j, the world, and the devil 
y/ere, nor could have imagined that their oppofition to 
this work was fo forcible and violent as you now find it. 
To reform the irregularities of the life is comparatively 
cafy ; but to root fm out of the foul, to confecrate the 
'whole heart to God, and demolifli thofe idols that have 
been fet up, as it were, in the fecret chambers of imagery 
(5), is difficult indeed ; all the corruptions of the heart 
in fuch a cafe are ready to exert themfelves, and it is 

(i) Pfal. ill. I. (2) Rom. vii. 23. (3) Mark v. 9, 

(4) X Tiin. ii. 26. (5) Eztk. viii. 1%. 



NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. 145 

aatural for the itifis Gfihefe/h to unite againil: that which 
is fet upon deftroying them all ; nor did you ever know 
before, that there was fuch a world of fm within you. — 
With violence alfo dotsih^Jlrong man armed exert himfelf, 
when his goods are about to be taken from him by on^Jlrong- 
er than himfelf ; as our Lord, with an unerring propriety 
and wifdoni, reprefents it ( i ) ; and indeed it feems as if 
through the violence of his malignity, and the righteous 
judgment of God, who, whenever he pleafes, can take 
the wife in his o-wn craftinefs {2), that Satan fometimes 
overfhoots his mark, and raifes fo fenlible an oppofitioii 
againft the caufe of God in the foul, that an argument 
might be drawn, even from that very oppofition, to prove 
the truth and excellency of what he fets himfelf fo di- 
redly againft. And you have now perhaps experienced 
too, more than you ever did before, the inveterate oppo- 
fition o{ Xhtfeedof the ferpent to that of the ^ujoman : you 
have found, that fince you began to think of religion in 
good earneft, fome have derided you, others it may be 
have reviled you, and enemies have fprung up out of your 
own houfe ( 3 ) ; though the impreffions you have felt tend 
to make you more amiable, more kind, and- more ufeful, 
and therefore one would think fliould conciliate their 
friendihip : but this is a memorable inftance in which felf- 
love feems to make, as it were, a facrliice of itfelf to the 
hatred of God. Now therefore, to accompliOi fuch a 
mighty change in the midft of iiich oppofition, muft ev- 
idently fpeak a Divine interpofition. And ftirely the 
Chriftian, when thus recovered and reftored, has reafon 
to declare, as Lfrael did, if it had not been the Lord who 
was on our fide when thefe confederate enemies rofe up 
againfl us, then they had fwallowed us up quicks when their 
wrath nvas kindled againfl us ; then the waters had o'ver- 
whelmed us^ the flream had gone over our fouU then the proud 
waters had gone oiier our foul (4), and would have quench- 
ed and buried every fpark that looked hke Divine life, 
and have borne away every parpofe of reformation and 

(i) Luke xl. 21, 22. (2) I Cor. iii. 19. (3) Mat. x. 36. 

(4) Pfal. cxxiv. I — 5. 

N 



146 15ERM0N VII. 

holinefs. The remark will be further illuftrated, if we 
confider, 

[I4.] " By what feeble means this change is accom- 
plilhcd.'^ 

The Apoftle obferves, that in his day they had the trea- 
Jure of the gofpcl lodged tn earthen vejfeh^ that the excellent 
cy of the pQwcvy which rendered it fuccefsful, might appear 
to be of God^ and not of man (i). And it is ftill in a 
great meafiire apparent, that the fame method is made 
ufe of, from the fame principle, ^he -vjeapons of our war- 
fare are not carnal ; and if at any time they are mighty and 
effe(5tual, it muft be only through God (2). It is not by 
fecular might or power (3), that this great work is accorn- 
plifhed : no, nor by the refinements of learning, or the 
charms of eloquence. Thefe things indeed have their 
life ; tJie miderftanding may fometim.es be convinced by 
the one, and the afredlons moved by the other : yet 
where both thefe have been done, the work often drops 
fhort : and it may be the plained addrelTes from a weak 
and almoft trembling tongue, fhall perform that w^hich 
the far fuperior talents of many have not been able to 
eifecl. A multitude of fuch inftances have been found, 
and perhaps feldom in thefe latter ages more obfervabli 
than in the compafs of our own obfervation. 

Now w^henever this work is accompliihed by the 
preaching of the gofpel in a Chriftian country, there is 
generally fome circumftance that fhews it is a Divine, 
and not a human work. It is not the novelty of the 
do(5t:rine which ftrikes ; for all the main truths, on which 
the convi^ion and impreffion turns, have been knov/a 
even from early infancy. No miracles awaken the at- 
tention, no new difcoveries aftonidi the mind ; but what 
has a thoufand times been heard, and as often negleded, 
breaks in upon the mind with an almoft irrefiftible ener- 
gy, and ftrikes it as if it never had been heard of before. 
They feem as it w^ere, when the Lord tiirneth again their 
captivity J to awaken out of a dr^am (4), and wonder 
at the accident that has awakened them. The miniftry 
of the word nvjLY fecm hut feelde^ v/hen compared to fucn 

(i) % Cor. iv. 7. (:?) % Cm-, x. 4. (3) ZccIT. iv. 6. (4) r^J" cxtt*. r. 



KECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. I47 

an event. : and yet fometlmes even lefs folemn methods 
than that fhall be effe<5tuaL One fmgle text of Scripture 
accidentally occurring to the fight or thought, one feri- 
ous hint dropped in converfation, fhall ftrike the mind, 
and pierce it through with an energy that plainly (hews, 
that from whatever feeble hand it might feem to come, 
it was fliot out of the quiver of Gody and intended by 
him that made the heart to reach it : fince there is 
almoft as much difpropoition between the caufe and 
the eiFedl, as between Mofes lifting up his rod and the 
dividing of the water of the fea before Ifrael {i), la 
many inftances, remarkable providences, which one 
would have thought fnould have ftruck the foul as it 
were to the centre, have produced no effedl : and yet a 
word, or a thought, has accomplifhed it : and after the 
nvhirlwlnd, the earthquake^ and the jfr<? have made their 
fucceflive efforts in vain, it has appeared that the Lord has 
been in the fill fmall voice (2). On the whole, a variety cf 
circumflances may illuftrate the matter in different de- 
grees ; but, taking it in a general view, the remark ap- 
pears to be well-founded, " that the weaknefs of the 
means, by which the faving change is wrought, argues 
plainly that the hand of God is in it ;'' as when anoim- 
ing the eyes with fpittle gkvQjIght to the blind (3), it v/as ev- 
idently the exertion of a miraculous power. —But 

now, agreeably to what has been advanced under thefe 
feveral heads, I fhall proceed to Ihow at large, 

[5.] " That the Scripture teaches us to afcribe this 
great change on the mind to a Divine agency and ope- 
ration J ^ 

And here you will fee, that it docs not merely drop 
here and there an expreffion which is capable of fuch an 
interpretation, but that the whole tenor of the word of 
God leads to fuch a conclutlon : and furely, if we own 
the word to be divine, we need no more convincing ar- 
gument of the truth of this remark. The only difficult 
ty I fliall here find, will be like that which occurred un- 
der the former head, and proceeds from the variety and 
multiplicity of texts which offer themfelves to me while 

(i) Exod. xir. 16. (a) i Kings xix. 11, i%. (3) John ix. L 



MS sermon VII. 

ref!e(rtmg on this fubjefl : however, I will endeavour to^ 
rank them in the plalneft and beft order I can, under 
the following particulars. We find God ibmetimes 

prorrjfes to produce fuch a change in men's minds ; 

iind at other times ht /peaks of it as his own <work, when 
it has been already produced ; — the Scripture reprefents 
even the increafc of piety \n a regenerate heart, as the ef- 
fcd of a Divine power i and how much more muft the 
firfl implanting o{ It hcio I nay, it goes yet further than 
riiis, and expreffes the necejjlty as well as the reality of a 
Divine influence on the mrnd to make it truly religious,. 
and refolves the want of true religion into this, that God 
v/ithholds his influence. — If therefore any one, and much 
more if all tkefe particulars can be made out, I think it 
mud force a convidion on your judgment at leaft, that 
v.^hal we are endeavouring to confirm in this difcourfc is 
the do dlrine of Scripture. 

I. There are various places in Scripture, wherein 
*^ God promifes to produce fuch a change in men's mands 
as we have before defcribed ;" which plainly jQiews that 
it is to be acknowledged as his work. 

Thus Mofes fays to Ifrael, without all doubt by the 
Divine diredlion, The Lord thy God will circumc'tfe thy 
hearty and the heart of thy feed, to love the Lord thy God with 
{ill thy heart, and with all thy foul, that thou mayefl li've ( i )v 
And this circumcifion of the heart mufl: furely be the 
removal of fome infenfibility and pollution adhering to 
it, and bringing it to a more orderly, regular, obedient 
lute : v/hichj as it is fometiraes made matter of exhor- 
tation, and thus indeed proves that there is a view in 
Vv-hich it may be confidered as a duty incumben't upon 
us (as when Mofes faid, circumcife the fore fhin of yottr 
heart (2) ; and Jeremiah, in imitation of him, circumafe^ 
yourfehes to the Lord, and take away the forefkin of your: 
heart ( 3 ) ; ) f o here it is put in the form of a promife,to fig- 
nify that wherever it was done, it v^^as in confequence of 
God's preventing and affifting grace. On the fame prin- 
ciple, the Father promifes to Chrift, thy people flo all be wiU 
irng in the day of thy power (4) : and if any pretend that 
thefe v/ords may pofllbly admit of another verfion, 

(i) Dtut. XXX. 6. (2) Deut. x. 16. (3) Jer. iv. 4. (4) Pfa. cx/3.. 



KECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. I49 

though I know none more jufl: than this, there^aremanf 
other parallel places which are not attended with an/ 
ambiguity at all. Such, in particular, is that gracious 
promife, (which though it was immediately made to the 
houfe of Ifrael, is neverthelefs quoted by the Apoftles as 
expreflive of God's gofpel covenant with all believers ;) 
After thofe day s^ faith the Lord, I will put my law in their in- 
ward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will he their Goch 
and they fid all he my people ( i ) : or, as it is eifewhere ex- 
prefled by the fame prophet Jeremiah, / will give them one 
heart and one way, that they may far me forever ; and I will 
put my fear in their hearts, that they fid all not depart from me 
(2 ). And Ezekiel echos back the fame language by the 
fame Spirit ; / will give them one heart, and I will put a 
neiO fpirit within yon ; and I wdl take theflony heart out of 
their fie fb, and will give them a heart of flefh ; that they may 
w)alk in my fiatutes, and keep mine ordinances, find do them ( 3 ) ; 
which is afterwards repeated again almofl in the fame 
words ; ^ new heart alfo will I give you^ and a new fplrk 
will I put within you : and I will take away the flony heart 
out of your fifh, and I will give you an heart offleflj ; and I 
will put my Spirit within you, and caufe you to walk in my 
fiatutes, and ye fhall keep my judgments, and do them (4). 
Now fuch a transformation of the heart and fpirit as 
may be reprelented by a thorough renovation, or by 
changing ftone into ilefh, fpeaks the dodlrlne I am affert- 
/ing in as plain terms as we could contrive or exprefs, and 
beautifully points out at once the greatnefs and excellen- 
cy of the change, and the Almighty power by which it 
is eiFeded ; for we may allure ourfelves God would nev- 
er promife fuch influences, if he did not really mean to 
impart them. But again, 

2. Agreeably to the tenor of thefe promifes, the 
<< Scripture alf^ afcribes this work to a Divine agency, 
when it is effected. '^ 

Thus the apoftie John, when he is fpeaking of thofe 
who, on receiving {^hpi^'^come the fons of God, dtcX'^Y^^ 
concerning them that they were horn, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flefh, nor of the will of man, but of God (5) : 

(1) Jer. xxxi. T,i. Heb. viii. 10. (2) Jer, xxxiii. 2% ^9-^ 40. 

(3)Ezek,ii. 19, :;^o. (4) Kzek. xxxvi. a6, 57. (5) John i. 13^ . 

N2 



1^0 



SERMON Vir. 



plainly iiitii mating that it was to him, and not cnlv or 
chiefly to themfelves or others, that this happy change 
%vas to be alcribed : which is well explained by thofe 
\vords of St. James, In which he fays, of hts cwn will be- 
gat he us with the word of truth ^ that we jhould he a kind of 
jirflfru'its of h'ls creatures [i). Accordingly our Lord, 
as you have heard at large, infills upon it as abfolutely 
neceffary to a man's entering into the kingdom of God, not 
only that he fhould be born again, but more particular- 
ly that he Ihould be born of the Spirit (2), i. e. by the 
fan-flifying influence of the Spirit of God operating upon 
his foul, to purify and cleanfe it. — And as this great 
v/ork of regeneration chiefly ccnfifts in being brought 
to f lith and repentance, you may obferve, that each of 
thefe ar€ fpoken of as a Divine produdlion in the mind, 
or as the gift of God to it. Thus the believing Jev/s, 
with one confent, expre&d their convidion when they 
heard the ftory of Cornelius, and declare, then has God 
cfo to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life (3). And fo 
the Apoftle Paul expreffes it, when fpeaking of the 
poflibiiity that fome might be recovered out of thefnare of 
the devHy he fays, If Gad peradi^enture will groe them repent- 
nnce to the acknowledging of the truth (4). That very at- 
tention to the gofpel, which is the firit ftep tow^ards the 
produdlicn of faith in the foul, is refolved into this, 
V. hen it is faid, that the Lord opened I.ydia^s hearty that Jhe 
attended to the things ivhich were fpoken by Paul (5). And 
v/ith regard to the progrefs of it, it is not only faid in 
general, you hath he quickened^ who were dead in trefpoffes 
ind fins ; but faith exprefsly declaied to be the gift of 
Cod (6) ; and the apoftle fays to the Philippians, that it 
\V2iS given to them to believe {7) ; nay. It is reprefented as 
a moft glorious and iiluftrious effort of Divine power, 
^xid afcribed to the exceeding greatnefs of his power towards 
them thai believe, according to the working of his mighty power y 
which he wrought in Chrifl^ when he raifd him from the 
dead (8). — And in this view it is, that this change is 
called a new creation (9) ; plainly Implying, as a cele- 

(i) Jam. I. 18. (2) Johii Jii. 3, 5. (3) Aa:s xi. iS. 

^4) 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26. (5) AOi% xvi. 41. (6)]lphef. ii. 1,8. 

{"/) Phil, i, 29. (8) Kph. i. 19, 20. (9) % Cor. v, 17. 



NECESSITY OF DtVINE INFLUENCES. 151 

brat^d writer well expreffes it, *' that fomething inuft 
here be done in us, and for us, which cannot be done by 
us." Wherefore it is faid, that the new man is renewed in 
knowledge after the image of him that created him ( i ) : and 
we are his worhmanjbip^ created in Chrijl Jefus unto good 
works (2) : not to infift upon the great variety of par- 
allel paffages, in w^iich the fame thoughts are exprejfTed 
almofl in the very fame words. But he indeed who 
would reckon up all the Scriptures, both in the Old and 
New Tedament, which dire<5lly or indiredly refer to this, 
mufl: tranfcribe a larger part of both than would be con- 
venient to read at one time in a worlhipping a/Tembly.-— • 
But we may further, by a very ftrong ccnfequence, 
infer the do^rine I am now maintaining from thofe va- 
rious paffages of the facred writers, in which, 

' 3. ** The inereafe of piety in a heart already regene- 
rated, is fpoken of as the work of God," 

Thus David, even when he felt himfelf difpofed to the 
rnoft vigorous profecution of religion, folemnly declares 
his dependence upon continued Divine influences, to ena- 
ble him to execute the holy purpofe he was then moft af- 
fedlionately forming : / wiU run the way of thy command^ 
mentSf fays he, zvhen thou JJjalt enia ge my heart (3), or when 
thou ilialt influence it with a ileady principle of zeal, and 
with jhofe devout paflions vvhich may m.ake every branch 
oi my duty eafy and delightful. And the Apoflle 
Paul declares his perfuafion that God would continue 
thofe gracious influences which he had already imparted : 
He that has hegiin a good work in you ^ will perform it until the 
day of Jeftis Chr'ift (4). And when he fpeaks of the ar- 
dent defire with which Chriftians were afpiring towards 
a better world, he adds, He that hath wrought us for the 
f If 'fame thing is God (5). Thus alfo he afcribes his con- 
tinued fidelity in the miniftry to the grace of God that 
T^as with him, as being one that had obtained mercy of the 
Lord to he faithful (6) : and hy the grace of God, fays he, / 
mn what I am : and if / have lahoured more abundantly than 
others, it is not /, but the grace of God which was with 

(i) Col. ili. 10. (2) Eph. ii. 10. (3) Pfal. cxix. 32. 

(4) PhiL i. 6. (j) % Cor. V. 5. (6) 1 Cor. vii. 25, 



152 SERMON VII. 

me {1) : on the fame principle he acknowledges, that 
die fuccefs of Apollos in watering, as well as his own in 
planting, was to be referred to this, that God gave the /«- 
crea/e in the one cafe as well as in the other ( 2 ). And he 
concludes his Epiftle to the Hebrews with this remarka- 
ble prayer ; The God of peace make you perfed in every good 
work to do his zuill, iv or king in you that which is well" 
pleqfing in his fight, through Jefus Chrlft ['i^). But indeed, 
as every prayer that the Apoftles offer for any of their 
Chriilian brethren and friends, that they may grow in 
grace, might be urged for the illuflration of this head^ 
I choofe rather to refer the reft to your own obfervation 
on this general hint, than to enter into a more particu- 
lar enu?meration. I (hall only add, to complete the ar- 
gument, 

4. That the Scripture often declares " the neceffity as 
well as the reality of fuch influences, and refers the ruia 
of man to this circumftance, that God in his righteous 

judgment had withheld or withdrawn them." 

When Mcfes ^vould upbraid the obftinacy of the If- 
raelites. that all the prcfufion of wonders wrought for 
them in Egypt and in the wildernefs had not produced 
any fuitable impreffions ; fo much was he accuftomed to 
think of every thing good, in the moral, as well as in 
the natural world, as the gift of God, that he ufes this 
remarkable expreflion : Tet the Lord hath not given you an 
heart to perceive, and eyes to fee, and ears to hear, unto this 
day (4). And our Lord, the propriety of whofe exprei- 
fions furely none can arraign, fpeaksto the fame puvpofe, 
when adoring the Divine ccndu<5l with refped to the dif- 
penfation of faving light and gofpel bleflings, he fays, / 
thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thcu hafl 
hid thefe things from the wife and prudent y and hafl revealed 
them unto babes ; even fo. Father, for fo it feemed good in thy 
Jtght (5). If fome of the plaineft and loweft of the peo-- 
pie, who were in coraparifon to others but as little chiU 
dren, underftood and received the gofpel, while the 

(i) I Cor. XV. 10. (2) T Cor. iii. 6, 7. (3) Hcb. xili. %u 
(4) Deut. xxix. 4, (5) Matt, :ii. aj, a6. 



NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. I53 

learned men and politicians of the age defpifed it, God 
revealed if to the former, while he fiifFered the veil of 
prejudice to remain on the mind of the latter, though his 

Almighty hand could eafily have removed it. Thoffe 

other words of our Lord mufi: not be omitted here, in 
which he fays, No man can come unto tne, except the Father 
^vhtch hathfent me draw him ( i ) : and what this drawing 
of the Father means, he himfelf has explained by faying^ 
No man can come unto me^ except it be given him of my Fa» 
ther (2) ; and elfewhere he exprelfes it by learning of the 
Father (3) ; all which muft undoubtedly fignify a Di* 
Tine agency and influence on the mind. — Nay, a more 
forcible expreffion than this is made ufe of by the Evan- 
gelifl, v/here he takes notice of the unbelief of thofe that 
iaw the miracles of Chrift, therefore they could nvthelicue^ le^ 
caufe that Efaias faid^ he has blinded their eyes y and hardened 
their hearts (4) : which is agreeable to that expreffion of 
the Apoftle Paul, i*^ has mercy on ivh-ofn he luill have mercy , 
and nvhom hs ivilU he hardeneth (5) : a thought which the 
Apoftle purfues at large tlirough the following verfes. 

Thefe, to be fure, are very emphatic ai Scriptures : 
and though it is neceifary to under ftand them in fuch 
a qualified fenfe as to make them confiftent with other 
Scriptures which charge men's deftru6rion, not en any 
neceffitating decree, of God, but upon themfelves, and 
the abufe of their, own faculties ; yet ftill thefe expref- 
fions muft ftand for fomething ; and in the mo ft mod- 
crate fenfe that can be put upon them, they diredlly con- 
firm what I have here brought them to prove. So that 
en the whole, the matter muft come to this, " That the 
caufe of men's final and everlafting ruin may be referred 
in one view of it, to God's withholding thofe graciou:S 
influences, which, if they had been imparted, v/ould in- 
deed have fubdued the greateft perverfenefs : but his 
nvitkholding thefe influences is not merely an arbitrary 
a(5b, but the juft puniihment of men's wickednefs, and of 
their obftinate folly in trifling with the means of his 
grace, and grieving his Spirit till it was provoked to 
withdraw." This thought, which I might largely 

(i) John vi. 44. (2) Ver. (>$- (3) ^er. 45, 

- (4) John xii. i^^ 40. (5) Rom. ix- 18. 



154 SERMON VII, 

prove to you to be a compendium of tlie Scripture 
fcheme, reconciles all ; and any confequenees drawn 
from one part of that fcheme to the denial of the other, 
hov7 plaufible foever, muft certainly be falfe. 

1 hope what I have here faid may be fufficient to fix 
a convidion in your judgments and confciences, " that 
regeneration is ultimately to be referred to a Divine in- 
fluence upon the foul ;" or, as the Apoftle expreffes it in 
the text, that God faves t(s of his mercy^ hy the wa/hing of 
regeneration^ and rene^.ving of the Holy Ghojl^ which hejhed on 
itj abundantly through Jefus Chrl/l our Saviour. 

I fhall conclude with two or three refle6lions, w^hich^ 
though fo exceeding obvious, I ihall touch upon, in re- 
gard to their great importance, without oiFering, as I 
might, to dilate on each of them at large. 

[i.] Let thofe w^ho have experienced this Divine 
change in their fouls give God the glory of it. 

-, Perhaps there are many of you who may fee peculiar 
reafon to do it ; perhaps you may be confcious to your- 
felves, that the arm of the Lord was remarkably reveal- 
ed in conquering every feniible oppofition, and getting 
itfelf the victory, even when you feemed as if you had 
been refolutely bent upon your own deil:ru(5tion, to ftrug- 
gle to the utmoft againft the operation of his grace on 
your foul. Others may perhaps have perceived the 
ftrength of the Divine agency in the ilightnefs^of the oc- 
cafion, or in the weaknefs of the means by v/hich he 
wrought ; which indeed is often matter of aftonifhment 
to thofe that ferioufly reflecfl upon it. But whatever 
your inclinations may have appeared, and whatever 
means or inftruments were ufed, give God the glory of 
all. 

If you have found yourfelves, from your early years, 
inclined to attend to divine things, and fufceptible of 
tender impreffions from them, that attention and thofe 
impreffions were to be refolved into this, that God pre- 
vented you with the blelHngs of his goodnefs. If you 
have enjoyed the moft excellent public ordinances, even 
with all the concurrent advantages that the moft preffing 
exhortations, and the moil edifying example of parents, 
IJiiiiiilcrs, and companions eould give ; it was Divias 



KECISSITY Of divine INFLUENCES. I55 

Providence that furniflied you with thofe advantages, and 
Divine grace that added efficacy to them, elfe they had 
only ferved to difplay their own weaknefs, even where 
they might have appeared mod powerful, and to illuf- 
trate that infenfibility or obftlnacy of heart which would 
have rendered you proof againft all. You do w^ell in- 
deed to honour thofe whom God has bleffed as the 
means of your fpiritual edification : but if they think 
aright, it would grieve them to the very heart to have 
thofe applaufes given, and thofe acknowledgements made 
to them, which 'are due to God alone. All they have 
done is fo little that it deferves not the mention ; and 
the greater attainments they have made in religion, the 
more cordially will they join with the holy Apoftle in fay- 
ing, Neither . r he that planfeth any things neither he that nva^ 
tereth, but God that glveth the Increafe { i ) . 

[2]. We may further infer, that they who attempt 
the converfion of fmners, ihould do it with an humble 
dependence on the co-operation of Divine grace. 

Otherwife they will probably find themfelves fatally 
difappointed ; and after their mod fkiilful or mail labo- 
rious attempts, they will complain that they have lahoured 
in vaw, and /pent their Jlrength for naught ( 2 ) ; and find 
reafon to fay. The helloivs are burnt^ and the lead Is confumed 
of the fir, yet the drofs is not taken aivay (3). A de- 
pendence upon God, in all the common affairs of life, 
becomes us as we are creatures ; and jt is moft neceffkry 
that we fliouldj In all our ^ways, achnoSledge him, as we ex- 
pe<fi: or defire that hejhould direB or pvofyQV our paths (4) : 
but the greater the undertaking is, the more folemn 
Ihould the acknowledgement of God be. 

Let me therefore efpecially recommend this to thofe 
who are coming forth as young officers in the army 
of Chrift. See to it, my brethren, that in the name of 
your God you fet up your banners ■{^) ; that you apply from 
time to time to your public work with a deep convicl:ion 
upon your minds that no ftrength of reafon will effe<5>u- 
aUy convince, lh;\tno eloquence will effedually perfuade, 
uniefs he that made men's hearts will plead his own 

(r) T Gor.iiL f. (2) Ifa. xlix. 4. (3) Jcr. vi. 29. 

(4) ProT. ni.6, (5) Pl^lxx. 5, 



^r-*,'^^:^^-^^-'- 



155 SERMON VII. 

caufe, and bow thofe hearts in humble fubje(flion. With 
thele views, I have often known the feebleft attempts 
fuccefsful, and the meek and lowly have out of iveaknefs 
been made Jlrong (i); while for want of this, all the 
charms of compofition and delivery have been at beft but 
like the lovely fotig of one who has a pie af ant voice, or the art of 
one that can play 'well on an injlrmnent (2). It is thofe that 
honour GoJhj the moft cordial dependence upon him that 
he delights to honour (3) : and I will prefume to fay, that 
it is the inward conviclion of this important truth, which 
I feel upon my foul while I am confirming it to you, 
that encourages me to hope, that this labour fiall not he 
in vain in the Lord{'\), but that a Divine bleillng fhall 
evidently attend what has already been delivered, and 
what fhall further be fpoke. Only let me conclude my 
prefent Difcourfe w^ith this one neceffary caution, 

[3.] That you do not abufe this dodrine of the necef-* 
ftty of Divine influences <t which, from the word of God, has 
been fo abundantly confirmed. 

God does indeed a6l upon us, in order to produce this 
happy change : but he a^is upon us in a manner fuitable 
to our rational nature, and not as if we were mere ma- 
chines. He faves us, as the Scripture exprefTes it, by a- 
waking us X.o fave ourfdves {5 ) : ^ 7ie^jD heart does he give uSf 
and a neiu fpirit does he put within us ( 6 ) , to ftir us up to be 
folic i to u s /^d? make ourflves a ne-w heart and a new fpirit (7) : 
he circumcifes our heart to love hiin (8), by engaging us to 
take away the fore-flm of our hearts (9), You fee the cor- 
refpondency of the phrafes, and it is of great importance 
that you attend to it. — If any therefore fay, ** I will fit 
ftill, and attempt nothing for my own recovery, till God 
irrefiftibly compels me to it :'' he feems as like to perifh, 
as that man would be, who, feeing the houfe in flames 
about him, fhould not attempt to make his efcape, till 
he felt himfelf moved by a miracle. Sirs, the depen- 
dence of the creature on God, though it be efpecially, yet 
it is not only, in fpiritual affairs : it runs through all 
our interefls and concerns. We as really depend upon 

(i) Hcb. xi. 34. (2) Ezek. xxxiii. 3Z. (3) i Sam. ii. 30. 

(4) I Cor. XV. 58. (5) Acts ii. 40. (6) Ezek. xxxvl. 1,6, 

(7) Eztk. xviii. 31. (8) Dent. xxx. 6. (9) Jer. iv. 4. 



KECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES. 1 57 

his influence to ftretch out our hands, as we do to raife 
our hearts toward him in prayer. Your fields could no 
more produce their fruit without his agency, than his 
word could, without it, become fruitful in your hearts .- 
yet you plough and fow ; and would look upon him as a 
madman, that upon this principle fhould decline it, urg« 
ing, that no crop could be expeded if God did not pro- 
duce it ; and that if he pleafed to produce it, it would 
come up without any human labour. The argument is 
juft the fame in that cafe, as when men plead for the 
negle^l of means or endeavours? from the reality and 
neceffityofa Divine concurrence. And if they apply 
this argument to the concerns of their fouls, when they 
do not apply it to thofe of their bodies, it plainly fhev/s, 
that they regard their bodies more than their fouls ; 
and that, in pretending to xnake thefe excufes, they belle 
their confcience, and ad againft the fecret convidion of 
their own heart. Such perfons do not deferve to be 
difputed with, but rather ihould be folemnly admonifh- 
ed of the danger of fuch egregious trifling, Vv^here eter- 
nity is at flake. And fure I am, that it is offering a 
great affront to the memory of the bleifed Paul, when 
men pretend to encourage themfelves in this perverfe 
temper from any thing he has faid. For when he" gives 
us, as it were, the fubifance of all I have now been fay- 
ing, in thofe comprehenfive words, // is God that worketh 
in you, both to will and to do, of bis good pleafure ( i ) ; he is 
fo far from mentioning it as an excufe for remiiTnefs 
and floth, that he introduces it profeffedly in the very 
contrary view, as engaging us to exert ourfelves with 
the utmofl: vigour in a dependence upon that Divine 
operation. And therefore, as he there expreifes it, I fay 
with him. Work out your oivn falvatlon nvltb fear and trern^ 
bltng ; and if you v/ill not do it, you have reafon to 
tremble in the profpedt of a final condemnation from 
God, aggravated by your having thus irrationally and 
ungratefully abufed the revelation of his grace. 



(i)Phil.n. 15, 
O 



SERMON VIII. 



OF THE VARIOUS METHODS OF THE DIVINE OPERA* 

TION IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS SAVING 

CHANGE, 



I Cor. XII. 6. 

"There are d'lverfitles of operations ^ but it is the fame 
Gody ivhich ivorketh all in alh 



WHATEVER tlie original fenfe of thefe words 
%vas, and how peculiarly foever they may relate 
to the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, the whole 
tenor of the Difcourfe now intended will fhew, with 
how much propriety they may, at lead, be accommodated 
to the operations of his grace. I have proved to you in 
the lafl of thefe Ledures, tliat wdierever regeneration Is 
produced, it is ultimately to be afcribed to a Divine 
agency ; and though I cannot fay it is equally import- 
ant, yet I apprehend it may be both agreeable and ufe- 
ful to proceed, 

Fifthly, To furvey the variety of thofe methods, which 
God is pleafed to take In producing this happy change :- 
or, to borrow tlie language of the text, to confider the 
cUverfjly of operations ^ by v/hich the fame God^ who *worieth 
all in allf (I. e. who produces all the virtues and graces of 
the Chriftian charaifler, in fome degree, in all his people) 
is pleafed, according to his ow^n wife and gracious pur* 
pofcs, to proceed in his agency on thofc whom he regen- 
erates and favcs. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE* 1 55 

And this furvey will not be matter of mere euriofity, 
but may probably revive the hearts of fome amongft you 
by the recolle^ion of your own experience : and it may 
be a caution to others, who, for want of due compafs and 
extent of thought and knov/ledge, are ready to argue, as 
if God had but one way to work on the human heart, 
and that one the particular manner by which he recov- 
ered them. Of this I fhall fpeak more largely hereafter. 
In the mean time, I judged it neceflliry to premife this 
hint, to direa us as to the temper with which this dif- 
courfe fhould be heard, as well as to the purpofe to 
which it is to be improved. 

Now what I have to offer on this fubjed will be rang- 
ed under thefe three heads. There is a diverfity and 
variety obfervable — in the time — the occafon — and the 
manner^ of the Divine operations on the foul. 

I. There is an obfervable variety, " as to the time of 
God's gracious operations on different perfons.'' 

Some are called in their inflmcy :•— others, and thefe 
perhaps the greateft part, are wrought upon in youth :— 
and fome very few in the advance, and even in the de*- 
cline of life* 

I. Some are wrought upon by Divine grace " in their 
infancy J** 

This is often the cafe ; and I doubt not, but if parent? 
were to do their duty, it would much more frequently 
be fo. And it is an honour which God is pleafed, in 
fome inflances, remarkably to confer on a good educa- 
tion ; which is indeed fo important a duty on one fide, 
and fo great a privilege on the other, that it is the lefs 
to be wondered at, that he fo mercifully encourages 
Chriftian parents in the difcharge of it ; thus granting, 
as it were, an immediate re^ward iov this labour of love. 
And I mud here take the freedom, on my own obferva- 
tion, to fay, that God feems efpecially to own the faith- 
ful endeavours of pious mothers in this refped:. He has 
wifely and gracioufly given ihat fex a peculiar tender- 
nefs of addrefs, and an eafy and iniinuating manner, which 
is admirably adapted to this great end, for which, no 
doubt, he efpecially intended it, that of conveying know- 
ledge to children, and making tender impreflions on their 



i6o SERMON vrii. 

minds : and there is hardly any view m which the im- 
portance of the fex more evidently appears. 

We have encouragement to believe, there are a con- 
fiderable number who are, as it it srox^^ fan^ijied from the 
^Momby and in whom the feeds of Divine grace are fown, 
before th^y grow up to a capacity of underftanding the 
public preaching of the word : a remark, which Mr. 
Baxter carries fo fir as to fay, " that he believes, if the 
duties of religious education were confcientioufly dif- 
charged, preaching would not be God's ordinary m.ethod 
of converting fouls: but the greater part would be- 
Vv~:' ought upon before they were capable of entering into 
the defign of a fermon/' And indeed it feems to me, 
that children may early com.e to have fome apprehen- 
fions of what is moil important in religion. They may 
have a reverence for God, and a love for him, as that 
great Father viio made theiri, and that kind Friend who 
gives them every thing that they have : they may 
have a fear of doing any thing that would difpleafe 
hrm ; and though it is not {o eafy for them to underftand 
the dodlrines peculiar to a Redeemer, yet when they 
hear of Chrift as the Son of God, who came down from- 
heaven to teach men and children the way thither ; 
v/ho loved them, a^id did tliem good every day, and at 
lail died to deliver them from death and hell ; their lit- 
tle hearts ma]/ well be imprefFed with fuch thoughts as 
thefe, and they may find a growing defire to he Injlrii^ed 
in v/hat Chriil: is, and what he taught and did, and to do 
what fliall appear to be hh ^Ju'ilL And wherever this is 
the prevailing difpofition, it feems to me that the feeds 
of holinefs are fown in that foul, though but fmall pro- 
ficiency may be made in knowledge, and though the ca- 
pacities for fervice may be very low. 

I will add, that fome remarkably pertinent and folid 
things, which little children have faid concerning relig- 
ion, iztm to me plainly to evidence, that they have been, 
in many inftances, under fome uncommon teachings of 
the Divine Spirit : and it feems perfedtly fuitable to the 
genius of Chriftianity, that in this fenfe God fhould or- 
dain Jlrength out of the mouth of hales and fuchlings (i), and 

(l) Pfal. viii. 2. 



VARIOUS METHODS 01 GRACE* l5l 

fliould reveal to them what he has fuffered to be h'tdchn 
from the wife and prudent (i). Nor can I fuppofe it hard 
for any, who have been for a confiderable time acquainted 
with the (late of religion in Chriftian focieties, to recol- 
le(5l various inftances, in which perions thus early taugljt 
of Gody who have heard, and known, and loved the 
Scriptures, and delighted in ordinances and ferious dif- 
c our fe from their childhood, have been, in fome meafure, 
like Samuel, Obadiah, Jeremiah, Jofiah, and Timothy, 
honoured with eminent ufefulnefsin the church, and have 
happily filled fome of its mod important ftations of fer- 
vice. Almoft every age has afforded inftances of this ; 
and I am perfuaded, many are nov/ growing up amongd 
us, who will be inftances of it in ages yet to come. 

2. Others, and thefe perhaps the greatcft part of real 
Chriftians, are wrought upon " in their youthful days.'^ 

Many parents are very deficient \n a due care to cul- 
tivate the infant minds of their little ones ; or the feeble 
and general imxpreftlons then made are, perhaps, worn 
out and loft, in the growing vanities of childhood and 
youth. They begin to be drawn away hj evil inchna- 
tions and examples, and by the deluftons of a flattering 
world, which then puts on its moft attractive charms, to 
gain upon their inexpertenced mxinds : and hereupon 
thdj folio iv after vanity^ and lecome vain. (2) : of the rock 
ivh'ich begat thetn, they grow unmindful^ and forget the God 
that formed them^T^), But by one method or another, 
God often ftops them in this dangerous career ; and 
awakening ordinances, or more awakening providences, 
bring them to a ftand, and turn them the contrary way, 
The terrors of the Lord ft thcrrfAves m array again ll 
them (4) ; or his mercy melts their fouls, and they yield 
themfelves its willing captives. They confecrate their 
hearts, warm as they are with youthful vigour, to be 
the iacrinc^s of Divine love, and enter, it may be, very 
early into the bonds of God's covenant ; and fo prove 
fixch. a feed to ferve him^ as is accounted to the Lord for a 
moft honourable and ufcful generation {^), BlelTed b^ 

(i) Matt. xi. 25. (2) ^ Kings xvll. 15, (3) Deut. xxiii. iS., 
(4) Job. vi. 4. if) Ffal xxii. 30. 

b 2 



1 62 SERMON Vnu 

/ 
God, I ipeak to many wlio know this by experience I 
By far the greater part of thofe wlio have been admitted 
to your communion, fmce I fettled among you, have 
been, as I apprehend, under the age of twenty-four 
years : and feverai of thofe, who v/ere farther advanced 
in hfe when they iirft approached the table of the Lord, 
had been brought to real religion in their much earlier 
years ; though particular circumftances, or fom.e miftak- 
en apprehenfions, might prevent their giving up their 
names publicly to the Lord, fo foon as they might, and 
as they ought to have done it. 

3. Some fev/ are wrought upon by Divine grace *' in 
the advance, and even in the decline of life/' 

I confefs that the number of thefe is comparatively 
fmall ; and it is not to be v/ondered at, that it is for 
They are not many v/ho arrive to what can properly be 
called old age ; and of them but a very inconfiderable 
part are then brought to any thing which looks like afav- 
ing change. Nor fball v/e be much furprifed at this, if wx 
confider the inveterate nature of bad habits, which ren- 
der it almoil: as hard for ihem that are acciijiomed to do ev'd, 
to learn to do good, as it is for the Ethiopian to change his 
Jiin, or the Leopard his fpots ( i ), To fuch a degree are 
prejudices riveted in the mJnd, fo infenfible is it render- 
ed of tender and generous im.preffions, focoid are the af- 
fedrions, and the memory (if the phrafe may be allowed) 
fo rigid, that, humanly fpeaking, there is much lefs 
probability of their being imprefied with religion, than 
there was when they were in the bloom of life ; notwith- 
ft anding all the feeming advantages which might arife 
from riper reafon, deeper experience, and a nearer prof- 
ped of eternity. In all thefe things, it is in vain to rea- 
fon again ft obiervaticn of fad", fiiice we evidently fee 
hov7 uncommon a thing it is, for peribns to be awakened 
and reformed in old age ; efpecially if they liave been 
educated in the princirles of religion, and have made 
a fiorid profefiion of it in iheir youth j from which they 
Jiave afterwards apoRatized, cut of a love to the wealth 
rr honours of the world, or a relifh for fenfual delights. 
Such peifons generally live and die mcnum.ents cf Di- 

(1) Jcr.icui, 23. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. 163 

vine wrath, bearing as It were, in chara<51:ers dreadfully' 
legible, the fad infcription of thofe, " who having forfak- 
en God, are finally forfaken of him." They appear as 
dry trees ^ twee dead, and fit for nothing but to hQ plucked 
up by the roots ^ and cajl into the jire ( i ). 

Ne verthelefs, to prove the infinite energy and fovereign- 
ty of Divine grace, God is fometimes pleafed to work 
even on fuch. He touches the rock which has flood for 
ages unmoved, and the waters flow forth : he fays to the 
dry bones. Live, and they obey ; tliey are clothed with 
beauty, they are animated with life, and ftand up as with 
the vigour of a renewed youth, to purfue the labours of 
religion, and to fight the battles of the Lord (2). Such 
inilances, in which aged finners have been thus wrought 
upon, I have read and heard ; though (I grieye to fay 
it) I can recoiled very few, if any, that have occurred 
to me within the fphere of my ow^n perfonal obfervatiori 
and acquaintance. 

But befides this variety in the time, there is alfo, 

II. An obfervable diverfity, " in the occafion, which 
Divine grace takes to operate upon diiferent perfons." 

The occafions are indeed fo various, that it would be 
impoflible to enumerate them ; I fhali however juft 
touch on fome of the chief. 

And here I might particularly confider a religious ed- 
ucation in this view, and that daily converfe v/ith pious 
friends, which is of courfe connected with it. But though 
perhaps there may be no occafion more confiderable in 
itfelf, and none that has been more eminently honoured 
of God 5 yet it is proper to wave it here, as having been 
mentioned under the former head, as v/eli as much more 
largely illuftrated in my fermons on that fubje(5l, which 
are in moft of your houfes, and which I hope, you will 
often review. 

I proceed therefor-e further to obferve, — that fome are 
wrought upon by the word of God ;~-others by fome 
remarkable providences ; — fome by little incidents, 
which, inconfiderable as they feem in thernfelves, grow 
memorable by the noble effeds they are made to pro» 
duce ; — and others by fecret and immediate impreffions 

(i) Jud€ V€r, 12. Joha xv. 16. (2) rztk. xxxvii. 10. 



164 SERMON Vttt. 

of God upon their fpirits, which cannot be refolved iir- 
to any external caufe, or any vifible occafion at all. 

I, "The adminlflratlon of Divine ordinances, and ef- 
pecially the word of God and prayer," is an occafion, 
which he moft frequently takes, to work upon men's 
hearts by his grace. 

I do not mention the adminiftration of the facraments 
upon this occafion ; becaufe, though they have fo noble 
and efFe(f]:ual a tendency to improve men's minds i'n pie- 
ty, and to promote Chridian edification ; yet I do not 
remember to have heard of any inftance, in which they 
have been the means of men's converfion ; which is the 
lefs to be v/ondered at, as they are appointed for a very 
different end. 

TEere are many, however, that have been wrought 
upon in prayer, as there are m.any things concur in this 
to av/aken and im.prefs the mind. The foiemn acknowl- 
edgements then made of the Divine perfedions, the 
praifes offered to his tremendous Majefty, the deep and 
humble confeflion of our various and aggravated guilt 
in his holy prefence, the lam.entations over it, the impor- 
tunate pleadings for a variety of blefUngs both for time 
and eternity ; in a w^ord, all the overflowings of pious 
alfefticns in the breatl of him that leads the devotion, 
and efpecially the earneft entreaties then offered for un- 
converted fmners, the genuine expreiHons of- an undif* 
fembled apprehenfion of their darger, a^d the fervent 
breathings after Divine grace, to be communicated to 
them for their fpiritual life : all thefe things, 1 fay, and 
many more, which occur in pr?.yer, when it is managed 
aright, may, by the Divine bletUng, be Angularly ufe- 
fuL And I am well affured, there have been happy in- 
ftances, in which, wink God's people /6^^'^ yet been fpeah^ 
tng to him on this head, he has graciouily heard, and 
i^igVizCily anfvjered them [i). 

But the reading, and efpecially the preaching of the 
word, is the grand occafion and inftiument in the con- 
verfion of fouls. Of his onvn luiU he begets them nvith the 
fujorJ of truth (2) ; and it is admirably fuited to thofe 
fiiving impreffions vdiich it is intended to mxake on th« 

(t) Ifa. hv. 24, (2) Jam, i, i8. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. 1 65 

hfeart, heitig quid and ponverfuly andjharper than any tivoedg" 
ed favor d (i). It was ivhile Paul was preachings that the 
LiOrd opened Lydia^s hearty fo that Jhe attended to the things 
ivhich nvere fpohen by him (2 )j and it was while Peter 
was thus employed, that fuch vaft multitudes were prick' 
id in their hearts^ and /aid to him, and to the reji of the apof" 
ties prefent, Men and brethren^ what Jh all 'wedo(^)^ And 
I am well perfuaded, that various and lamentable as the 
inftances are, in v/hich mtujlop their ears and harden their 
hearts again ft it, God does not even to this day leave it 
without wltnefs ; but the terrors of the Lord^ as difplayed 
by his faithful minifters, have fubdued their thoujands^ 
and the riches of his grace their ten thovfands, when illuf- 
trated by thofe who have not only heard, but have thcm- 
felves tailed of their fwtietnefs. The preaching of the crofs 
may indeed to them that perl/h be fooli/hnefs ; but bleffed 
be his name v/ho died upon it, there is ftill a happy rem- 
nant, to whom it appears to be the power §f God, and the 
nvifdom of God (4). Evangelical fubjecls, w-hen opened 
with perfpicuity, and enforced with vigour and tender- 
nefsi by thofe that have experienced the transforming 
energy of them on their ow^n hearts, and de£re above all 
things, to be wife to win xht fouls of others (5), are gener^ 
ally the .occafion of producing the moft immediate, and 
the moft important change ; as I doubt not, but many 
now prefent have {Qtn and felt. And the obfervation o£ 
every year of life convinces me more and more, that 
they who delire to be fignally inftrumental in this good 
work, this work of all others, the moft benevolent and 
important, muft, in the account of a vain world, become 
fools ^ that they may be wife (6). How contemptuously fo- 
ever it may be fafhionable to treat fuch preaching, we' 
muft make thefe fubje(5ls familiar to our hearers, and 
muft treat them with all plainnefs of fpeech, and all fe- 
rioufnefs of addrefs, or we ftiall generally labour in vain^ 
andfpend our flrength for naught \'^). Would to God, 
that the teachers of our Ifrael may confider the import- 
ance of it, and grow^ wife by fuch experiments as thefe ! 

(i) Heb. IV. 1-2, (a) A^s xvi. 14. (5) AAs il. 2,7- 

(4) I Cor. i. 18, ^4; (5) Prov. xi.30. (6) i Cor. iii. iS. 

C7} Ifa. xlix. 4. 



l66 SERMON VIII. 

that they may a^fl the part of prudent phyficians, who 
prefcribe the medicines they ifind in fa(9: mod ufeful, and 
not thofe concerning which the finefl: fpeculations may 
be framed. Till then, whatev^er their learning, polite^ 
nefs, and parade may be, it cannot be expeded that our 
health ihould be generally recovered ; but we are like to 
continue, what we have long been, a vicious people, 
amidft the fineft encomiums of virtue, that are any 
where to be found : nor will there be much room to 
wonder, if fome of its moil eloquent advocates Ihould 
appear, even in their own pradice, infenfible of thofe 
charms Vv^hich they fo gracefully recommend to others, 
and fmk in their chara6feer below thofe heathen- mor- 
alills, whom they niciy choofe to imitate, rather than 
Chrift and his apoftles. Neverthelefs, I am perfuaded^ 
that if God intend mercy for us as a people, he will fup- 
port among us. a fuccefiion of thofe who fkall difpenfe his 
ordinances in fuch a manner, as he has generally chofen 
to honour v/ith fuccefs. But though the greater part of 
fincere converts ai-e reduced by tbefe, I am to add, 

2. That " remarkable providences, whether merciful 
cr a]fHi(ftive,'^ are occafions which God takes to work up- 
on the hearts cf many others.. 

When ordinances have long been attended in v^in, 
God perhaps interpofes, by other more peculiar and 
fignal methods, io pluck tlie trifling and lethargic fmner 
as a firehrand out of the burning ( i ). 

Sometimes remarkable mercies and deliverances ac- 
complifh the work. An appearance of God in their fa- 
vour, when they are eonfcious to themfelves that they 
are the unworthiefl: of all his creatures, fhall fhame and 
melt them, and powerfully prevail on their minds to turn 
unto the Lord, who daily loads them 'with his henefts (2 ) ; 
and thus feems, in more fenfes than one, to fend from 
heaven to fave them, and to dra^ them out of many waters^ 
in w^hich they had otherwife been loil (3). 

But we m.ore frequently fee, that aiHicftions are the 
means of performing this happy work. By a gracious 
feverity God is pleafed to lay hold on many, and to give 
them reafon toblefs the hand, which, though by a rough 

(i) Amos iv. II. (2) Pfal. Ixviii. 19. (3) P^al. xviH. 2$. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. J 6/ 

rnotion, delivers them from the flames that were kind- 
ling around them, and Ihews the Lord to be merciful to 
ihem (i). Like Jonah in the fhip, they are awakened by 
ajtorm^ to call upon their God (2) : like Manaifeh, they 
are taken among the thorns y and laid in fetters^ that they may 
be brought to knoiv the Lord ( 3 ) : like the jailer, they 
are Ihaken with an earthquake^ and trembling and ajlontjhed 
they fall do'wn^ and inquire w>6rt/ they Jh all do to he fav" 
ed (4). The terrifying fear of the approach of death, 
or the diftrefllng weight of fome calamity, which threat- 
ens every moment to fwallow them up in deftru(5lion> 
roufes their confciences to an attention to thofe divine 
truths which they had long forgotten, and opens thofe 
records of guilt which they had ftudioufly fealed up. 

And there feems to be no afHicSion by which God 
more frequently works upon men than by ficknefs. 
When he weakens their capacity for the budnefs of life, 
and fpoils their reliih for its enjoyments ; when he con- 
fines them to their chambers, or even to their beds, and 
mahs their chain Jlraighl and heavy ( 5 ) ; when he threatens 
to take them anvay in the midjl of their days (6), to depri^je 
them of the refidiie of their years (7), and immediately to 
bring them before that awful tribunal, for which they 
know, in their own confciences, they are fo ill prepared : 
then do we often fee the accomplifhment of thatobferva* 
tion which Elihu made fo many ages ago ; He chajieneth 
a man *with pain upon his hed^ and the multitude of his hones 
*with Jlrong pain^ fo that his life abhor reth bread, and his foul 
dainty meat : his fleflo Is confumed a^vay that it cannot be feen ; 
and his hones, that ^vj ere not feen, flick out ; yea, his foul dra*w- 
eih near to the grave, and his life to the defrayers : but fend- 
ing him an interpreter, one among a thovfand, tojhew unto 
man his uprightnefs, then he is gracious to him, and faith, in a 
fpiritual as well as literal fenfe, Deliver him from going 
donvnto the pit, I have found a ranfom (8). Ble&d be 
God, inftances of this kind have been known, and known 
among us, in which theficknefs of the body has wrought 
the cure of the foul| under the condud of the great Phy- 

(i) Gen. xk. 16, (a) Jonah 1. 6. (3) ^ Chron. xxiiii. ix, 1%. 
(4) Aifts xvi. -26 — 30. (5) Lam. ili. 7. (6) Pfal. cii. *4. 
(7) Ifa. Kiriii. 10. (8) Job Kwiii. 19—24' 



l68 SERMON vin. 

ficlan of both ; and fo has proved eminently to the glory 
of God, and the good of thofe who,/?/* a ^hiky have been 
in hea'vhiefs ( J ) . 

Yet it muft be acknowledged, that, in other inftances, 
the remorfe which a man expreffes upon a fick bed, and 
in the near views of eternity, proves but like thatof fome 
condemned maiefaclor, who, when he has obtained a 
pardon, throws off all tliofe appearances of repentance 
with w^hich he had once deceived himfelf, and perhaps 
deceived others too, and plunges himfelf anew into capi- 
tal crimes ; it may be, into crimes for which he after* 
wards fuffers death, without thofe compun<5Lions of con- 
fcience which he before felt, being hardened by a return 
into iln, attended with luch dreadful aggravations. 
This has been the cafe of many ; and I pray God it 
may not be thus v/ith any of you. But if there be any 
among you that were once under pov^erful awakenings ; 
any that have cried out of terrors on every JIde (2) ; that 
have confeffed your fins, it may be, with greater free- 
dom, and a more particular detail of circumftances, than 
the minifter vdio attended you could have defired, and 
have refolved again 0: them with all the appearances of 
the moit determinate purpofe ; and yet, after all, have 
returned with the f 010 that 'was wajhed^ to her nvalloiving in 
the mire {"3^) I fuch have peculiar reafon to be alarmed 
and terrified. Every day of Divine patience toward 
fuch is aftoniftiing. And if to all this have been added 
the returns of danger, and fignal interpofitions of Provi- 
dence for your deliverance, and yet there be no kindly 
impreffions of penitence and gratitude on your hearts, 
they who know the particulars of the cafe, muft furely 
look upon you with horror as well as with wonder ; for 
what can one imagine of fuch, but that they are given 
over by God to a darknefs, which nothing but the flames 
of hell can enlighten, and a hardnefs, which nothing can 
penetrate but the fharpnefs of unquenchable fire, and the 
gnawings of the never-dying worm ? 

But to return from a digreffion, into which compaffion 
tov/ards fuch a deplorable cafe has infenfibly led me, I 
would farmer obfervc, that as tliefe various interpofitions 

(r) I Pet.i. 6. (a) Job Kviii. 11, (j) % Pet. ii. tV 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. l6g 

of a remarkable Providence are often the means of work* 
ing faving impreffions on men's minds, fo, 

3. God is fometimes pleafed to over-rule "little and 
inconfiderable incidents in life," as the occafion of ac- 
complifliing this happy change. 

As the treafure of the Gofpel was at fir ft put info earth* 
en vejfels, that the excellency of the power might appear to he 
of Gody and not of man { i ) : fo God, to make his own 
praife glorious (2), is fometimes pleafed to produce the, 
moft important effed:s, by caufes which iQcra in them« 
felves leaft confiderable. And it is aftonifhing to fee 
from how fmall and feemingly unpromifmg a feed this 
plant of Paradife fprings up, and with how little culti* 
vation too in fome inftances, after Paul had long attempt- 
ed in vain to plants and Apollcs to water (3). — -A few- 
lines in the Bible, or any other good book, perhaps takea 
up by chance, fliall be the inflrument ; and a paifage, oa 
which the eye glances without expectation or defign, 
fhall ftrike to the heart, like an arrow from the bow of 
God himfelf, after quivers of the moft pointed and pol- 
ifhed fliafts have been exhaufted in vain, though fucli 
fliafts were moft fkilfuliy aimed, and moft vigoroufl^r 
difcharged. In other inftances, a word dropped in con- 
verfation, and that perhaps no way remarkable either for 
Its fpirit or propriety, fhall do that w4iich the moft fol- 
emn ordinances have not been capable of doing : an 
important encouragement, by the way, to abound in re- 
ligious difcourfe, which God has fometimes been pleafed 
to honour as the happy means of faving a foul from deaths 
and laying a foundation for the delights of an everlaft* 
ing friendfliip with thofe who have been fo recovered. 

4. Sometimes this great work is accompliflied " by fe- 
cret and immediate inprefilons from God upon the mind,'* 
without any viftble means,, inftruments, or occafions at 
all. 

Thefe things do not frequently happen ; nor does it 
feem fit they fiiould, left any fhould be encouraged to 

(t) % Cor. ir, 7, {%) Pfal. Ixvi. z. (3) i Cor, iii. 6, ;* 
P 



lyx^ SERMON VIII. 

cxpeft them In the negle<5l of the appointed means* 
Neverthelefs, it is plain, in fadt, that God is fometimes 
pleafed to go out of the common way ; and his mighty 
hand is to be acknowledged in it. The reafons arc 
known to himfelf ; and the praife is humbly to be af- 
cribed to him who giveth net an account of any of his mat^ 

It is not, to be fure, fo common now as it was in the 
days of Elihn, that God fbould^^^^ to men In a dreamy 
or feal hiJlruBions to them in flumhermgs on their bed [2) ; 
yet I have myfelf known feveral Avho have afcribed their 
firft religious awakenings to fome awful dream, in which 
the folemnity of the judgment-day, or a view of the in- 
vifible world, has been reprefented to them with un- 
fpeakable terror ; and others, to whom, when they have 
waked in the night, fome words of Scripture have oc- 
curred v/ith fuch power, that they have not been able to 
divert their thoughts to any thing elfe ; and that when 
they themfelves have not certainly known whether they 
were in the Bible or not. 

I have Imow'n thofe that, in the circle of their vain 
companions, and in the midft of their fenfual delights, 
have been ftruck to the very heart with fome fuch Scrip- 
ture as this : to he carnally minded is death (3) : or fiich a 
text as this has, on a fudden, darted into their minds ; 
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven agairfl all ungodli- 
nefs and nnrightcoufnefs of men (4). Such paifages have 
feemed to ring and thunder in their ears, till the found 
of their mufic, and tlie noife of their mirth have been 
quite overpowered, fo that they have been driven from 
their revels to their knees, and have returned no more 
into the paths of the deflroyer* 

Yea, to add no more inftances of this kind, 1 Imve 
known thofe of diftinguifhed genius, polite manners, and 
great experience in human affairs, who, after having 
outgrown all the impreflions of a religious education ; 
after having been hardened, rather than fubdued, by the 
mod fmgular raercies, even various, repeated, and afton- 
ifhing deliverances, which have appeared to themfelves 
uo lefs than miraculous ; after having lived for yeai^ 

(0 J'^b xYxiit. 13. (2) Job XKxiii. IJ, 16. (3) Ro^a. vm. 6. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. r^I 

without God in the luorhl, notorloufly corrupt tHemfelves, 
«.nd labouring to the utmoft to corrupt others ; have 
been flopped on a fudden in the full career of their fm, 
and have felt fuch rays of thq Divine prefence, and of 
redeeming love, darting in upon their minds, almofl Hie 
lightning from heaven, as have at once roufed, overpower- 
ed, and transformed them ; fo that they have come oat 
ti^ their chambers with an irreconcileable enmity to thofe 
vices, to which, when they entered them, they were the 
tameft and moft abandoned flaves ; and have appeared, 
from that - very hour, the votaries, the patrons, the 
champions of religion ; and after a courfe of the moil 
refolute attachment to it, in fpite of all the reafonings, 
or the railleries, the importunities, or the reproaches of 
Its enemies, they have continued to this day fome of its 
bright^ft ornaments : a change which I behold with 
equal wonder and delight, and which, if a nation fhould 
join in deriding it, I would adore as thejinger of God, 

In mentioning thefe things thus publicly, I do indeed 
take an uncommon freedom, v^hich fome may perhaps 
cenfure ; but fo far as human teftimony can give an af- 
furance of truth, I may juflly fay, that / fpeak luhat 1 
knowj andtejlify luhaty in its genuine and powerful efFedls, 
/ have myfclffeen ( i ). And fmce the poffibility of abuf- 
ing fuch condefcenfions of Divine mercy did not prevent 
their being granted, I cannot think it ought to engage 
me to be filent, when fo natural an opportunity offei^ed 
of declaring them, fo the glory of him who nuorketh all things 
according to the counfel of his otun nv'ill (2). Yet I muft re- 
peat the caution which I before fuggefted, that it would 
be madnefs for any to negled God's appointed means of 
operation, on prefumption that they fhall be added to the 
fmall lift of thofe who have been fuch uncommon and 
aftonifhing trophies of the efficacy ^nd fovereignty of 
Divine Q:race. 

Thefe remarks muft for the prefent fuffice, with regard 
to the various occafions by which God works upon men's 
minds ; and I hope you will excufe me, if in illuftrating 
ibme of them, I have a little anticipated fome things 

(i) John iii. 11. {%) Ephef. i. ix. 



17^ ftERMOM Vllt. 

which might have been mentioned under the third head, 
in which I propcfed, 

III. To confider ^*fome varieties obfervable in the 
manner in which Divine grace operates on the mind/* 

And this variety, by the way, will be obfervable in 
many inftances where the occafions are in general the 
fame. Thus among thofe that are awakened by the 
word of God, or by his providence, fome are fhaken by 
firong terrors ; — fome are melted into deep forrows ;■— 
others a.re aftonifhed, as it were, and captivated at once, 

by the difcovery of the hve of God 'in Chrijl ; and 

others are ltd onhji^nch gentle and gradualimprejjionsy that 
they can hardly recoiled any remarkable circumftance at 
sli relating to the manner in which this bleifed work was 
begun, or condueled in their fouls. 

I. Some converts are " awakened by ftrong terrors/^ 

It is obvious, that conviclion of fm, in fome degree or 
other, is abfolutely neceiTary to make way for the en- 
trance of tlve gofpel into the foul. But the degrees are 
various in different perfons ; and as for thofe of whom 
we nov/ fpeak, God reproiyes them aloud, and Jets their fins 
in order before them ( i), marihals them in dreadful array, 
as the expreffion imports ; fo that they feem like de- 
fencelefs creatures furrounded with a whole hoft of en- 
emies, whofe weapons are raifed for their deftruclion* 
Yea, God himfelf, the great, the terrible, the eternal, 
and omnipotent God, feems to ft them up as a mark for 
ihife arroivs (2), the poifon of ^ivhich drinketh up their fpir^ 
its (3) ; and, as he himfelf exprefles it. He is unto them 
as a hear^ or a lion^ ready to tear and rent the very caul 
of their heart {^). They come, as it were, to the trem- 
bling and terrifying mountain of Sinai, to hlacknefs, and 
darhiefsy and tempej {^). The conviction of guilt is at- 
'tended with fuch a fenfe of the demerit of fm, as fills 
them w^ith horror and aflonifhment, and engages them 
to wiili, in the bitternefs of their fouls, that they had iiever 
been born. They are left for a time, and that perhaps 
for weeks and months, to be, as it were, deafened with 

(i) Pfal. 1. 21. (2) Lam. iii. 12. (3) Job vl. 4. 
{4) Hof. xiii. 8. (i) Keb. xii. 18. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. 173 

tlie loud thunders of the law : a dreadful founds as Eii- 
phas expreffes it, Is in their ears (i), even the fentence of 
their own damnation ; and the awful curfe of an al- 
mighty, fm-avenging God comes Into their bowels like wa^ 
ter^ and like oil into their bones (2). They are filled with 
fuch deep remorfe for their paft fms, that they verily 
think no iniquity was ever like theirs, and that no pun- 
ifhment will be like theirs. They hardly fee a glimmer- 
ing of hope that they fliall obtain deliverance, but expedl, 
in a very little while, to be fealed up under wrath, if 
they are not already fo. When they hear the offers and 
the promifes of the Gofpel, they can apply none of them 
to themfelves, and find comfort in none : but every 
threatening and every curfe of the book of God feems to 
have been written as their intended portion. And thus, 
perhaps, they continue for weeks or for months together, 
expecting every day and every night that deJlrvMion from 
God, which is now a terror to them (3), fliould utterly 
fwallow them up^ and leave them neither root nor branch j 
neither comfort nor hope (4). The law is a fchoolmajler 
to bring them to Chrifl ( 5 ), and it fcourges them with the moil 
rigorous difcipline : yea, the infernal lion roars over 
them, though he is not permitted to devour them : he 
particularly terrifies them when they think of approach- 
ing God, as if they were to meet with fome peculiar dan« 
ger there, where alone they can find their relief : or, if 
they do in broken accents utter their prayer before God, 
it feems to h^ Jhut out (6), and they are apprehenfive 
that it is turned into fin (7). Yet there is one thing to be 
obferved in the midft of this fcene of horror, and it Is a 
circumftance of great importance ; "that they juftify 
God when he feems moft inexorable, and fubfcribe to 
that fentence as righteous which dooms them to eternal 
ruin." 

2. Others are "nielted Into deep forrows.'' 

Their eyes run down with tears ; and they are ready to 
wifh that their head were waters, ^7«^ their eyes fountains^ 
that they might continue to weep day and night (8). They 

(i) Job XV. %\. {%) Pfal. cix. 18. (3) Job xxxi. 23, 

(4) Mai. iv. I. (5) Gal. iii. 24. (6) Lam. iii. 8. 

(7) Pfal. cix. 7. (8) Jer. ix. i, i8. 

? 2 



174 SERMON VIII. 

fee die evil of fm, and the mifery to which it has reduced 
them, in a mofl deplorable view ; and it may be, while 
thole defcribed under the former head are ready to trem- 
ble becaufe they cannot weep, thefe ?.re ready to weep, 
becaufe they cannot tremble. They lament, among 
other things, the want of thofe ftrong horrors which 
fome have felt : they cry out, " Wo Is me^for I am undone 
(i) ; I have dcjlroyed rnyjelf^ and in myfelf is not my 
help found (2) :'^ and it may be, they area confiderable 
time before they can perfuade themfelves there is any 
help for them, even in God. They know there is help 
in him through Chrifl: for penitent and believing finners : 
but they cannot eafily be convinced that they believe, 
becaufe they do not feel that confident truft which fome 
others have miuch fooner been brought to ; and they are 
afraid, left whatever they experience, which looks like 
repentance, fhould be only the falfe appearance of it, 
proceeding from mere felf-love and a natural dread of 
future mifery. They dwell perpetually on the dark fide of 
things : they read over the catalogue of their iniquities 
again and again, and attend to thofe paffages in which 
the ivrath of God is revealed from heaven agalrjl every kind 
and degree of j^;^ (s) 5 while they are fiow of heart to 
admit thofe reviving confolations which the various rich 
and precious promifes of the Gofpel aix fo adnriirabiy 
well calculated to adminifter. 

The ftate of flic h fouls, when they are firft favingly 
enlightened, is like that of the earth, when fogs and 
mills have veiled the face of the fun after it is rifen. 
But it very often happens, v/ith refped to fuch fouls, 
that when thefe mi Pes are at length difperfed, a very 
bright and cheerful day opens : they are comforted by 
the warmer beams of the Sun of Righteonfnefs, according 
to the hours in which they have been beclouded, and 
are made glad according to the days In <which they were af^ 
flt8ed\^) ; and going on to fear the Lcrd^ and to obey 
the voice of his fervcnty though they have long walked in 
darlncfs^ and feen no lights they are at length encouraged 
hj his Spirit enforcing the exhortations of his word, to 

(i) If?., vi, 5. (2) Hof. xili. 9. (3) Rom. i. \%. 

(4) Pial xc. 15. 



VARIOUS METHODS 0? GRACE. 1 75 

irujl In the name of the Lordy and Jlay themf elves upon theif 
God{i). 

3. Some are " captivated with alloniflimg and de- 
lightful views of the love of God in Chrift." 

There is always, as we obferved before, in the awak« 
ened foul, fome convi(5i:ion of fin and apprehenfion of 
danger ; neverthelefs, there are inftances in which God 
heals almoft as foon as he wounds, and fpeaks peace al- 
moil as foon as he fpeaks trouble. He gracioufly ftiort- 
ens, to fome fouls, the pangs of the new birth, and gives 
them beauty for q/loes, the oil of joy for mournings and the gar-» 
ment of praife for the fpirit of heavinefs (2). The news of 
falvation by the blood, and righteoufnefs, and grace of 
Chrift, is received with fo thankful a fenfe, with fo joyful 
a compliance, that the foul, feeling beyond all doubt 
the cordial iincerity with which it embraces the offer, 
is ^tdivAi!cs.joy unfpealable^ and full of glory (3) : the heart 
does magnify the Lordy and the fpirtt rejoices In God Its Sa* 
vlour (4). 

This was remarkably the cafe of the jailer, who in the 
very night in which he was converted, that fame night 
in which the foundation of his houfe had been fhaken, 
and his own foul too fhaken, by an earthquake, fo that 
he had endeavoured to lay violent hands on himfelf : 
yet, I fay, that very night, before the day appeared, 
having been diredled to believe on the Lord Jefus Chrijly 
that he might be faved, and been enabled, by Divine 
grace, to comply with the exhortation, it is added con- 
cerning him, that he rejoiced^ believing In God ivith all his 

houfe (5). Thus too the Theflalonians, though they 

received the *word In much aJfllBiony and ran the rifk oflof- 
ing their poffedions and their lives in adhering to it? yet 
received it with joy of the Holy Ghojl (6). And thoi^gh 
1 cannot fay this is God's moft ordinary v/ay of dealing, 
and though I fear the counterfeit appearance of fiich a 
work as this often leaves men in the number ofthofe 
whom our Lord reprefents hj flony grcuni hearers (7); 
yet it is certain, fome inftances of this kind are flill to be 

(i) Ifa. I. 10. (2) Ifa. 1x1. 3. (3) I Vtt. i. g. 

(4) Luke i. 46, 47. h) Acts xvi. 34, (6) i Tbef. i, ^. 

(7) Mat. xiii, 20, %x. 



176 SERMON VIII. 

found. But then I muft obferve, this is a joy attended 
with the deeped humility, and animates the foul to the 
moft ardent and afFedionate refolution of walking luorthy 
of the Lord unto allpleafing, being Jlrengthened with all mighty 
according to his glorious power y unto all patience and long-JuffeV" 
ing with joyfulnefs ( I j » 

4. Others, and tliefe perhaps the greateft part of fuch 
as are religioufly educated, are "led on by fuch gentle and 
infenfible degrees, that they can haidly recollect any re- 
markable circumftances that have attended their conver- 
fion, nor can certainly fix on the particular time of it." 

God is fometimes, as in the preceding in fiances, in the 
whirlwind^ the earthquake, and the jire ; but he is alfo fre- 
quently in the Jim f mall "voice (2). The operations of the 
Holy Spirit on the foul are often, and perhaps generally, 
of fuch a nature, that it is difficult exactly to diftinguilTi 
them from the rational exercife of our own thoughts, be- 
caufe the Spirit operates by fuggefting rational views of 
things, and awakening rational afFe<5lions. For whatever 
feme have vainly and dangerouHy infmuated, nothing is 
fo rational as the fentiments and temper v»^hich prevail 
in renewed fouls, and to which it is the work of God's 
regenerating Spirit to bring them. 

Thefe operations, where there is a religious educatiorb^ 
often begin very early : but then, in fome degree, the 
impreffions wear oiF from the weak and flexible mind; 
and perhaps there are various inftances in which they 
alternately revive and decay again. And this viciffitude 
of afFeclIonate applications to religion (under moving 
ordinances, affiidions, or deliverances) and of backflid- 
ings and remilfnefs in it, may be permitted,, with refp ed 
to many, to continue for a long time. At length, under 
the various methods of Providence and Grace, the foul 
arrives to greater fteadinefs, and a more habitual victory 
over the remainders of indwelling fin ; but it may be ex- 
ceeding hard, and perhaps abfolutely impoffible, to de- 
termine concerning fome remarkable fcenes through 
which it has paffed, whether fuch a one in particular, 
perhaps the laft which ftrikes the memory, wee the fea- 
fon of its new birth ; or whether it were merely a recov» 

(i) Col. i. 10, II. (2) I Kings xIj^. ii, i5. 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. J 77 

-cry from fuch a degree of negligence and remiffnefs, a's 
may poffibly be coniiftent with real religion, and be 
found in a regenerate foul. 

Thefe balancings of backfliding and recovery often 
occafion very great perplexity ; and fuch fort of converts 
are frequently much difcouraged, becaufe they cannot 
give the hiftory of their religious experiences in fo clear 
and diflindl a manner as others ; and particularly, be- 
caufe they have not pa fed through fuch violent terrors 
and agitations of mind as many, who were perhaps once 
funk into much deeper degeneracy have done. Never- 
thelefs, where there is a confcioufnefs of an undilTembled 
love to God, an unreferved devotednefs to his fervice, a 
cordial truft in the Lord Jefus Chrift, and a ftncere af- 
fedtion to mankind in general, and efpecially to thofe of 
-the houfehold of faith ^ a man ought not to perplex himfelf 
on this account. For as every man knows he was born 
mto the world, by a confcioufnefs that he now lives and 
a<5ts here, though it is impoffible he fliould remember any 
thing of the time or circumftances in w^hich he w^as 
firft introduced into it ; fo may a Chriilian be afiured, 
that fome way or another he was horn of the Spirit^ if he 
can trace its genuine fruits and efficacious influences in 
a renewed heart and life. 

I have thus laid down feveral particulars, v/hich ap- 
peared to me important, in order to illuftrate that di- 
verfity which is obfervable in the methods of the Divine 
operation on the heart ; and they will naturally lead us 
to thefe three refledtions, with which I ihall conclude 
my prefent Difcourfe. Let us not make our own expert" 
ences a ftandard for others / — nor the experiences of others 
a ftandard for ourf elves ; — nor let us be unwilling, in a 
prudent manner, to communicate our fpiritual experi- 
■ences to each other. 

[i.] Let us not make our own experiences a ftand- 
ard for others. 

Let us remember that there is, as we have heard, a dU 
verfity of operatlor^ ; and that many a perfon may be a 
dear child of God, who was not born juft with thofe cir- 
cumftances which attended our own regeneration. 
Others may not fo particularly have difcerned the timej 



178 



SERMON VIII. 



the occafion, the progrefs of the change ; they may »-©t 
have felt all that we felt, either in the way of extraordi- 
nary terror or extraordinary comfort ; and yet, perhaps, 
may equal, or even exceed us in that holy temper, to which 
it was die great Intention of our Heavenly Father, by one 
method or another, to bring all his children. Nay, I will 
add, that Chriftians of a very amiable and honourable 
characler may exprefs themfelves but in a dark, and fome^ 
thing of an ianproper manner, concerning the dc<^rine of 
regeneration, and may, in confcience, fcruple the ufe of 
fome phrafes relating to it, v/hich v/e judge to be exceeding 
fuitable ; and yet, that very fcruple which difpleafes us 
may proceed from a reverence for God and truth, and 
from fuch a tendernefs of heart as is the eiFed of his re- 
newing grace. We fhould therefore be very cautious 
how we judge each other, and take upon us to rejedt 
thofe whom perhaps God has received. 

I remember good Dr. Owen, whofe candour was, in 
many refpecfis, very remarkable, carries thisfb far, as 
fome where to fay, " that fome may, perhaps, have expe^ 
rienced the faving influences of the Holy Spirit on their 
hearts, who do not in words acknowledge the neceffity, 
or even the reality of thofe inflaences.'^ Judging men's 
hearts, and judging their ftates, is a work foi which we 
are fo ill qualified, that we have reafon to be exceeding 
thankful it is not affigned to us. And when we are en- 
tering into fuch an examination of their characler, as our 
duty may in fome particular circumftances feem to re- 
quire, we fhould be very felicitous that we do not lay 
down arbitrary and precarious rules. It feems, indeed, 
that fo far as we can learn it, we may more fafely judge 
by their prefent temper and conduifl, than by the hiftory 
of any thing which has formerly paffed in their minds. 

And let me add it as a neceflary caution here, that 
they v/ho never felt any of the extraordinary emotions 
of mind, which have been defcribed under fome 
former heads, but have been brought to religion by lefs 
obfervable methods, perhaps by calm, rational views of 
It (of whom I believe there are great numibers) fhould 
be very cautious that they do not rafhly cenfure fuch 
things as I have now been reprefenting, as if they were 
mere cnthufiafm. I cannot but think this a criminal 



VARIOUS METHODS OF GRACE. 1 79 

ihnttlng the Holy One of Ifrael ( i ), and fear it will be found 
a boldnefs highly difpleafmg to him, and very injurious 
to the fouls of thofe who allow themfelves in it, and of 
others too, if they be fuch as are employed in the min- 
ifterial work : not now to infill on what, in comparifon 
of this, is but a fmall matter, the apparent rudenefs and 
petulancy of contradiding fads fo well attefted as many 
of this kind have been, and running counter to the folid 
efFeds which fuch impreiHons have produced. The 
raflmefs which prevails under diiterent forms among 
men of the mod oppofite fentiments is too obvious ; but 
if we would give ourfelves leave calmly to weigh and 
' confider matters, our fpirits would be rendered on all 
fides more moderate, and many harfli and hafly cenfures 
would be fufpended, which at prefent prove very little 
more than the ignorance, pride, and folly of thofe that 
pafs tliem. 

[2.3 Let us not make the experiences of others a 
ftandard for ourfelves. 

This is frequently the cafe, and efpecially with thofe 
who are naturally of a humble and tender temper ; for 
whofe peace and comfort therefore one cannot but be 
peculiarly folicitous. Having heard of fome extraor- 
dinary experiences of others, they are ready to imagine, 
becaufe they can trace nothing correfpondent to thefe 
in their own minds, that they are utter ftrangers to real 
regeneration, and have nothing more than fuch religious 
notions and forms, as natural men may eafily learn of 
each other. 

But what I have now been faying of the variety of 
the Divine operations on the heart, affords a folid an- 
fwer to fuch fcruples, when they arife in a pious mini. 
Refled, on this occafion, how it is in the works of na- 
ture : there we know that God works in all, fo that he 
is the life and exiflence of the whole creation ; and yet, 
as an excellent writer exprefTes it, ^' He alone feems not 
to work ;'' his agency is fo invifible and fecret, that d!\^ 
not reafon and fcripture join to teach it, one might live 
a great many years in the world without knowing any 
thing more, than that fuch and fuch effeds are produced 

(i) Pfalm lxx\dii, 41* 



IrSo SERMON VllI* 

b,y correfpondent fecond caufes : though in ftrid pro- 
priety of fpeech they arc no caufes at all, but owe all 
their efficacy to the Divine prefence and operation. 
Senfe tells us that the fun enlightens the earth, and 
warms it ; that the rain waters it, the feeds produce 
vegetables, and the animals continue their proper race ; 
but that God is ihe Father of lights ( i ), that he has prepare 
ed the light and the fun (2) ; that he vifits the earthy and cau* 
fes rain to defend into the furrows thereof (3), fo as to make 
the grafs to grow for cattle^ and corn and herb for thefervice of 
man (4) ; that he fends forth his Spirit^ and the animal race 
is created, and the face of the earth renewed (5) ; this, I fay, 
is what multitudes of the human race are not aware of; 
becaufe in all thefe things he adts in a gentle, ftated, and 
regular manner, and employs inferior agents as the in- 
ftruments of his providence. And juft thus gentle, filent,. 
and regular are the influences of his Spirit upon men'S: 
fouls ; and it is often impoffible exactly to diftinguifh 
them from the teachings of parents and minifters, and 
from thole refledlions which feem to fpring from our own 
minds, though it is he that gives us cotmfely while our reins 
inflrud us in our fecret mufmgs (6), and that teaches us 
to profit by the leiTons which others give us. 

Be not therefore furprifed, and be not deje(5led, though 
you cannot affign the place, the time, the manner, in 
which your converfion began ; and though you arc 
ftrangers to the terrors, the forrows, or the transports of 
joy, which you have heard one and another exprefs. 
The wind hloweth where it liflethy and the Spirit difpenfes 
his influences w^here and when, and in what meafure and 
degree he pleafes : but while the way and manner of his 
operation may be fecret and unknov/n, the effeds of it are 
fenfible and evident : and as with regard to the witidy 
thou hcareft the found thereof hut carfl not tell whence it comethf 
and whither it goeth ; fo is every one that is horn of the Spirit 
(7). You may not certainly know when to fix the pre- 
cife time of your converfion, or how to trace the particu- 
lar fteps by which it has been brought to pafs ; for as 

(i) Jam. I. 17. (z) Pfal. Ixxiv. 16. (3) Pfal. Ixv. 9, id. 

(4) Pfal. civ. 14. (i) Pfal civ. 30. (^) Plal. xvi, y. 

(7) Johu iii. 8. 



VARIOUS METHODS Of GRACE. iSl 

thou knowejl not zuhat is the way of the Spirit, nor how tht 
hones do grow hi^jhe womb of her that is with child ; even fo 
thou knoweji not tWtworks of God who maketh all (i). But 
though you cannot trace the procefs of the operation, the 
-effects of it are fuch as you may feel within you, and h 
Its fruits it will be known (2). It is indeed deflrable to 
be able to give an account of the beginning and the pro- 
grefs of the work of God upon your fouls, as fome that 
are regenerate can do ; but this is not neceifary to evi- 
dence the truth of grace. Happy is he who in this cafe 
can fay as the blind man in the gofpel, One thing I know, 
that whereas I was Mind, now I fee (3). For as you 
know that there is fire when you fee the flame, though 
you know not how or when it began ; fo alfo it may be 
difcerned, that you have really undergone a faving 
change, though you know not how or when it was 
wrought in your hearts. If you anfw^er the charaders I 
laid dowm in the preceding difcourfes, as eilential to the 
truly regenerate (which are all comprehended in repent- 
ance and faith, producing an unfeigned love and uni- 
form obedience) you may trace the caufe from the efFedl 
with far greater certainty than you could have traced 
fuch an effed, as what w^ould infallibly follow from any 
caufe v/hich you could have perceived in your minds 
previous to it. There may be great aw^akenings, violent 
terrors, and extatic joys, where there is no faving work 
of God on the foul ; but where the Divine image is pro- 
duced, and the foul is actually renewed, we are fure (as 
was before obferved) that grace has been working, 
though w^e know not when, or where, or hov/. And 
therefore, on the whole, guarding againfl both thefe ex- 
tremes, and to cui-e them both, 

[3.] Let Chriilians, in a prudent and humble manner, 
be ready to communicate tiieir religious experiences to 
each other. 

God undoubtedly intended that the variety of his op- 
erations fhould be obferved and owned in the vi'orld of 
grace, as well as in that of nature ; and as thefe things 
pafs in the fecret receffes of men's hearts, how fliould 

(r) Eccl xL ^. (2) Matt, viie iQ. (3) Joka ix«. 25, 



iS: 



SERMON Vlli. 



tliey be known, unlefs they will themfelves communicate 
and declare them ? And let me caution you againft that 
ftrange averfenefs to all freedoms of this kind, which, 
efpecially in perfons of a referved temper, is fo ready to 
prevail. Let not any think it beneath them to do it. 
You well know that David, who was not only a man of 
an admirable genius, but a mighty prince too, w^as for 
from thinking it fo ; on the contrary, deeply imprefled 
with the Divine condefcenfion in all the gracious vifit5> 
he had received from him, he calls, as it were, the whole 
pious world around him, that they might be edified and 
comforted by the relation : Come^ fays he, and heaVy all 
ye t Jo at fear God, and I will declare nvhat he has done for my 
foul ( I ). He proclaimed it, not with his voice and harp 
alone, but with his immortal pen : and many other 
noble and excellent perfons concurred with him ; and 
the invaluable treafure of their experiences, in as great 
a variety of circumftances as we can well imagine, is 
tranfmatted to us in the book of Pfalms. Can any juft 
reafon then be adigned, wh}^ they, who live under a 
nobler difpenfation, and a m.ore abundant communica- 
tion of the Spirit, lliould be entirely filent on this 
fubjedl ? 

There may indeed be an over-forwardnefs, which is 
the apparent eifed of pride and felf-conceit, and which, 
with thinking people, may bring even the fmcerity of the 
fpeaker into queflion, or put his indifcretion beyond all 
poffibiHty of being queftioned. But it would be very un- 
reafonable to argue, that becaufe a thing may be done 
ill, it cannot poffibly be done well. 

Why may not intimate friends open their hearts to 
each other on fuch delightful topics ? Why may not 
they, who have met vi^ith any thing peculiar of this kind, 
communicate it to their minider ? And though I muft in 
confcience declare againft making it abfolutely and uni- 
v-erfaily a term of communion, yet I am well affured 
that in fome inftances a prudent and ferious communi- 
cation of thefe things to a Chriftian fociety, when a per- 
fon is to be admitted, into fellowfhip with it, has often 
anfwered very valuable ends. By this means God has 

(i) Pfal. Ixvi. 16, 



VARIOUS METHODS OF ORACE. 1 83 

the honour of his own work ; and others have the 
pleafure of fympatliizmg with the relator, both in his 
forrows and his joys : they derive from hence fome ad- 
ditional fatisfadion as to his fitnefs for an approach to 
the Lord's table ; they learn with pleafure the Divine 
bleffing which attends the adminiftration of ordinances 
among them ; and make obfervations and remarks 
which may afliO: them in offering their addreifes to God, 
and in giving proper advices to others who are in cir- 
cumftances like thofe related. To all which we may 
add, that the minifters of Chrift do, in particular, learn 
what may be a means of forming them to a more exper- 
__ imental manner of preaching, as well as in many inllan- 
ces difcover thofe, before unknown, tokens offuccefs 
which may ftrengthen their hands in the work of iheir 
great Mailer. 

It is by frequent converfations of this kind, that I have 
learnt many of the pai;ticuiars on which 1 have ground- 
ed the preceding difcourfe. I hope therefore you will 
excufe me, if, on fo natural an occafion, I have borne 
my public teflimony to what has been fo edifying to me, 
both as a minifter and a Chriflian. And the tender re- 
gard which I have for young perfons training up for 
the work of the miniftry, and my ardent defire that they 
may learn the language of Sion, and have " thofe pecu- 
liar advantages which nothing but an acquaintance with 
cafes, and an obfervation on fads can give,'^ has been a 
further inducement to me to add this refledion, with 
which I conclude my difcourfe ; humbly hoping that 
what you have heard upon this occafion will, by the 
Divine bleffing, furnifh out agreeable matter for fuch 
converfation as I have now recommended, to the glory 
of God, and to the advancement of religion among you. 
Amen I 



SERMON IX. 



DIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS, 



Acts ix. 6. 

,And he^ trcmling and ajont/hed^ faid^ Lord^ what wltt ths^u 
- have me fo do P 

THESE are the words cf Saul, ^zuho alfo is called 
Paul (i ), when he was ftricken to the ground as 
he was going to Damafcus ; and any one who had look- 
ed upon him in his prefent circunrftances, and kne\t 
nothing more of him than that view, in comparifon with 
'his paft hfe, could have given, would have imagined him 
one of the mod miferable creatures that ever lived upon 
earth, and would have expe6led that he fhould veryfoon 
have been numbered amongft the mo ft miferable of thofc- 
in hell. He was engaged in' a courfe of fuch favage 
cruelty, as can, upon no principle of common morality, 
be vindicated, even though the Chriftians had been as 
much millaken, as he rafhly and foolifhly concluded 
they were. After having dragged many of them hitoprlfon^ 
ynd gVven his voice agatvji fome that 'vj ere put to death, he 
perfecufed others hit ojl range cities ; and had now obtained a 
comr,vJJlon from the Sanhedrim at yenifakm to carry this ho- 
ly, or rather this impious war into Damafcus (2), and to 
bring all the profelytes to the religion of the bleffed Jefus 
bound from thence to Jerufalem ( 3 ) : probably that they 
might there be anim.adverted upon with greater feverity 

(1) Ads xiii. 9. (a) Ads xxvi. 10 — I a. (3) A<5ls ix. a. 



£>IRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS. 185 

than could fafely have been attempted by the Jews in fo 
diftant a city, under a foreign governor. 

But behold, as he was in the way^ Jefus interpofes, 
clothed with a luftre exceeding that oilhtfun at noon ( i ). 
He ftrikes him down from the bead on which he rode, 
and lays him proftrate on the ground, calling to him 
with a voice far more dreadful than that of thunder, 
Sauly SauU why perfectitejl thou mf (2) ? 

Any one would have imagined, from the circum- 
ftances in which he now beheld Saul, that Divine ven- 
geance had already begun to feize him, and that full ex- 
ecution would quickly have been done. But God^s ways 
are not as our fiuays^ nor are his thoughts as our thoughts ( 3 ) . 
Chrifl: laid him almoft as low as hell, that he might raife 
him as high as the third heaven ; of which he afterwards 
gave him a view in vifion, to anticipate his reception in- 
to it (4). This day of his terror and aftonifliment was, 
in a nobler £tTi{Q than any other, the day of his birth ; 
for he is brought to bow himfelf at the foot of an injur- 
ed Saviour, to offer him, as it were, a blank upon which 
to write his own terms of peace ; and as foon as he 
heard that this glorious perfon was Je/usy whom^ in his 
members, ^6^ had fo long perfe cute d^ he makes his fubmif^ 
fion in thefe lively, comprehenfive words, Lord, what 
wilt thou have me to do I — This was not a time for a loni^ 
fpeech ; but he that difcerns all the fecret receffes of 
the fpirit, knew thefe few words were full of a moil 
important meaning, and expreifed not only a grief of 
heart for all that he had before been doing againft 
Chrid and Ms kingdom, but the fmcerell refoiution for 
the future to employ himfelf in his fervice, waiting only 
the intimations of his wife and gracious v/ill, as to the 
moft proper and acceptable manner of beginning the at- 
tempt. 

There is, methinks, a poignant kind of eloquence in 
this fhort expreffion, far beyond what any paraphraie 
upon it can give ; and our compaffionate Lord accepted 
this furrender. All his former rebellions were no more 

(i) Aas xxyi. 13. (2) Aas Ix. 4. (3) Ifa. W, 8. 

(4) i Cor. xii. X. 



3 86 SERMON IX. 

remembered agalnft him ; and before he rofe from the 
ground, to which lie fell on fo terrible an occafion, Chrift 
gave him an intimation, not only tliat his forfeited life 
ihoiild be-fpared, fo that he fhoiild get fafe into tlie city 
to which he was bound, but that he fhould there be in- 
ftrudted in that fervice which jefus, whom he had perfe- 
cuted, would now condefcend to receive at his hands. 

I reprefent the cafe thus largely, becaufe I hope it is 
a cafe, w^hich, in fome m.eafure, fuits the experience of 
fome that hear me this evening. Paul tells us, is was 
for this recfon^ among others, that he himfelf obtained mer^ 
ry^ though he was the chief of fnners, that in hirriy as the 
chiefs Jefus Chrtfl m'ight Jhe^cv forth all long -fufferingy for a 
pattern to thi^ivho fioould afterguards believe (l). 

Is there then, in this ailembly, any awakened and con- 
vinced fmner ; any one that, apprized of his folly, and 
fenfible of his mifery, is defirous to fall at the foot of 
Chrift, and fay with Saul, Lord^ ivhat zi^ilt thou have mei9 
do P That nvhich I fee not, teach thou me ; and <wherein I hut^r 
dene iniquity, I rj^^ill do fo no more (2) ! — To fuch would 
I now efpecially addrefs : and while I put the queftion,, 
]s there any fuch among us \ 1 would fain perfuademy- 
felf, there are feveral : for I humbly hope, that all the 
labours that have been beftowed in the preceding Dif- 
courfes are not in vain, nor all the prayers tiiat have 
been offered for their iuccefs in vain ; prayers which, I 
doubt not, have been carried by many of you into your 
families and your clofets, as well as jointly prefented to 
God in this public afTembly. Truiling, therefore, that it 
is thus V7ith fome, and praying that it may be a more 
frequent cafe, I proceed, 

Sixthly, to give fome diredlicns to fuch w^hoare awak- 
ened by Divine grace to a frnfe of their mifery in an unre- 
oenerat . ftate. and are brought to denre recovery from it. 

To fach 1 propofe to give diredrions : and to w^hat 
purpofe would it be to undertake to offer them to any- 
others ? Who would pretend to teach thofe who are un- 
concerned about their Hilvaticn, what methods they are 
to take in order to their becoming t^uly regenerate > 

(1) 1 Tira. i. 15, 16. (2) Job xx-ilv. 3^ 



DIRECTIONS TO AWAKBKED SIKKERS. l8^ 

This, methinks, would be like giving dire(5lions how thofe 
might learn to write who do not defire it, and will not 
take a pen into their hands. All I could fay to fuch, 
while they continue in this charader, would vanifh into 
empty air-: It would not, probably, be fo much as ob- 
ferved and remembered. ■ I fpeak therefore to awakened 
fouls, and it is pleafant to addrefs fuch on this head. 
Ananias undoubtedly undertook this meffage to Saul 
with cheerfulnefs, to tell him what Chrift would have 
him to do : and I would with pleafure and cheerfulnefs 
engage in the like work ; humbly hoping, that fome will 
hear with obfervation and attention, will hear for them- 
felves, and fo hear for their good (i). And to this pur- 
pofe let me adviie you — -to attend to thellfhpreflions 
that have been made upon you with great ferioufnefs — ■ 
to break oiF every thing that \^ contrary to them — to 
feek for further knowledge in religious matters— to pour 
out your fouls before God in earneft prayer — to commu- 
nicate the flate of your cafe to fome experienced Chrif- 
tian — to acquaint yourfelves v/ith fuch as are much in 
your own circumftances— -to fly immediately to Chrift, 
as ready to receive all that come to him — to dedicate 
yourfelves to him, and to his fervice, in the moft folemn 
manner — to arm yourfelves to encounter with the great- 
eft difficulties in your Chriftian courfe — and finally, to 
take every ftep in this attempt with a deep fenfe of your 
own weaknefs, and a humble dependence upon Divine 
grace to be communicated to you as the matter requires. 
— -Thefe are the feveral directions I v/ould offer to you : 
and may they be impreiTed in fach a manner on your 
fouls, that none of you may hfe the things that have been 
*iVroughi (2) : but by the effedual workhig of the mighty 
poiver oi God (3), fuch as he graciouliy has been pleafed 
to bring to the birth, may be brought forth (4), and fuch as 
are awakened may be favingly renewed 1 

I . I would advife you to " attend to the impreffions 
made upon you with great ferioufnefs." 



(i) Job V. ^y. {%) z John ver. 8. (3) Fphef, i. 19, 
(4) Ifa. Ixvi. 9. 



l88 : SERMON IX. 

They may perhaps take you a little off the world and 
its concernments ; and fome will blame you for fuffer-^ 
ing fuch an interruption ; but regard not that cenfure* 
The time will come, if you purfue thefe things aright, 
when renewed diligence, prudence, and the Divine bleiT- 
ing, will amply make amends for any prefent hindrance 
which thefe imprefllons may occafion. And if it fliould 
be other wife, lusre there not a caufe ? If a man feized 
with a threatening diftemper fhould choofe, for a little 
while, to lay afide his ufual bufniefs, that he might at- 
tend to the care of his health, before the fymptomsgrew 
incurable, would any body blame him for this ? On the 
contrary, would it not be looked upon as adling a very 
w4fe, prut^gy;, and neceffary part ? Much more may be 
faid here, /r i/ not a light thing for you, becaufe It is your 
lifg ( I ) : And if the life is more than meat, and the body than 
raiment (2), then furely the foul is more to be regarded 
than either. And therefore what you do in your world- 
ly affairs, do moderately ; and do not grudge that re- 
tirement which is fo neceffary in fach a tender circum- 
fiance as this. — I may apply to you, on this occafion, 
thofe words of Solomon ; Through deftre a man having 
feparated himfelffeeketh and intermeddkth with all wifdom ( 3 ). 
Ifyoudefire to attain Divine wifdom, you muft fepa- 
rate yourfelf from all other things to purfue it. And it 
is the more neceffary to attend to this now, becaufe the 
tempter may probably contrive to lay fome more than; 
ordinary avocation in your way, at a time when the in- 
tereft of his kingdom requires you fhould be diverted 
from profecuting thofe views which are prefenting them- 
felves to you, and by v/hich you may fo probably be 
refcued out of his hands, and put forever out of his 
power. 

2. Let me advife you to " break off every thing which 
is contrary to fuch imprefiions as thefe.'' 

Sin will immediately appear to have been your di{cd.£e 
and your ruin : and therefore, if ever you hope fbr re- 
covery, you mud refolutely break with that ; not merely 
with this or that particular evil, but with every fin ; and 
that not only for a little while, but entkely and forever. 

(i)Dcut. xxsii. 47, (a) Mat. vi, 25. (3) Prov. xviii, 1, 



DIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS. 1 89 

A mortal, irreconcileable uar mufl: be declared againfl 
it. Every flefhly lull: ' inLiil be denied, every immoral 
pradlice, for which your heart may at any time fmitc 
you, muft be reformed ; and if ever you expe(5i: to reap 
mercy and life, you muft, as the Prophet expreiTes it, 
break up your fallow ground ( i ) ,2ind not/onv among tkorns {2) , 
For righteoufnefs has no fellowfldtp rojuhunrighteoufnefs^ end 
light no communion with darknefs ■{^^'), And you maybe 
affured, that as all fin grieves the Spirit of God, and 
ftrengthens the heavy fetters which lie upon the foul' j: 
fo thofe fins which are committed after thefe awaken- 
ings and convictions, have a peculiar guilt attending 
them, and do greater dejpite to the Spirit of grace (4), in 
proportion to the degree in which his m:qtk>ns on the 
ibul have been vigorous and warm. 

3. *^ Seek further knowledge, efpecially from the word 
and ordinances of God." 

The influences of Divine ^grace are not to be confidei?- 
€d as a blind impulfe : but God's Spirit works on thfe 
fpirit of man, as one rational being on another* Thfe 
Apoftle therefore puts the queftion with great reafon. 
How Jh all they believe zn him.^ of whom they have not heard ( 5 ) ? 
And as fome knowledge is the fcundation on which the 
Spirit of God ordinarily operates in men's hearts ; fo in 
proportion to the degree in which you attain further 
light into the fcheme of the Gofpel, and of falvation by 
Chrift, it may be expe^fted you will be more impreffed by 
it. The mention of this is fo much the more neceffary^ 
as miftaken notions of religion often expofe people on 
the one hand, to great perplexities, and on the other, 
betray them into a falfe peace, which one v/ay or another 
ivlll he hitternefs in the end. — Come, therefore,' to the houfe 
of God, and attend fpiritual preaching. The queftion 
is not about forms, but things. Be not therefore over-^ 
fcrupulous about what is merely circumftantial in re.'^ 
ligion, on the one hand or the other : but where you find 
moft fpiritual light and improvement, there c'hoofe gen- 
erally to attend : not confining religion to any particu- 
lar party, nor judging thofe who differ from you in their 

(i) Hof. X. 12. (2) Jer. iv. 5. (3) 2 Cor. vi. 14. 

{4) Heb. X. 29* Is) Rom. x. 14. 



ig(^ SERMON IX. 

fentiment or prafllce ; but calmly and humblr feeklirg 
your own edification, leaving others to feek tlieirs where 
they are perfuaded, in the fight of God, they may moft 
probably find it. — Above all, remember, in this circum- 
llance, to make the <WGrd of God the man of your counfel ( i ), 
and to judge of what you read and hear by the tenor of 
that, as the oracle of eternal trutli ; always attending 
the reading of it with eanieft prayer to God for the il- 
lumination of his Spirit, as I (hall afterwards more par- 
ticularly dired. — No other books are to be fet up in op- 
pofition to this, or in comparifon with it ; yet let it be 
your care, in fubordination to Scripture, to ftudy the 
waitings of thofe faithful fervants of God in latter ages^ 
who thenifelves manifeft a fenfe of practical religion. Ef- 
pecially eiiii^^avour to find out and perufe thofe writings 
v/hich treat of converfion and regeneration, and which 
contain advice fuited to your cafe. BlefTed be God, 
our language abounds with fach : and every truly Chrif- 
tian minifter will be glad to dire<5i: you to them, and fo 
far as he has a convenient opportunity to furnifh you 
w4th them. 

4. " Pour out your foul before God in eameft prayer.'^ 

You cannot be unacquainted with the many promifes 
God has made in Scripture for the encouragement of 
tliofe who defire to pray to him in the fmcerity of their 
hearts. You know into how little a compafs Chrift has 
crowded together three equivalent promifes ; AJk^ and it 
Jhall he given you ; feeky and ye Jh all find ; Inccky and it fhall 
be opened unto you (2) ; and you cannot but remember the 
threefold encouragement, from the fuccefs of thofe who 
have recourfe to this expedient, which he has added in 
the moft exprefs and general terms : For every one that 
afkethy receiveth ; and he that feeketh^ fndeth ; and to him that 
knocketh, itflmll he opened (3). Go, therefore, in a cheer- 
ful dependence upon this promife : go, and try the truth 
of it. — Whither ihould a creature in fuch circumftances 
go, but to that Godj who has the hearts of all in his hand 
as the rivers of nvater^ and turns them ijjhitherfoever he ivill 
(4) \ And who fiiould go to him, rather than you ? — And 

(i) Pfal. cxix. 24. (2) Matt. vii. 7. (3) Verfe 8, 

(4) Prov. xxi. I. 



iDlRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS, igt 

in what clrcumftances fliould a diftreffed creature rather 
thhik of looking and crying to him, than in thefe ; 
where it fees itfelf furrounded with fo much danger, and 
yet feels an inward earneft defire, not only of deliverance, 

but of holinefs too ? Go, therefore, and caft yourfelf 

at the feet of God this very evening ; do it as foon as 
you return to your habitations ; and if you cannot put 
your thoughts and defires into words, at leaft figh and 
groan before the Lord. Mourn, if you cannot pray ; 
and mourn that you cannot ; or rather be affured, that 
unutterable groanings have fometimes the greatefl: effi- 
cacy, and prove the moft prevailing eloquence. 

It will be no wonder at all, if in thefe circumftances 
Satan fhould endeavour to terrify you. It is his common 
pradice. So many fouls have vanquiihed him upon 
their knees, that he dreads and hates the pofture : but 
draw an argument from that very oppofition to make 
you fo much the more eager and importunate ; and 
when your heart is overwhelmed within you, fly unto the rock 
that is higher than you ( I ). 

I will add, Be not difcouraged, though help be Hot 
immediately imparted. Though you may feem to be caft 
out ofGodJsJtght, yet look again towards his holy temple{2) : 
though you may feem to cry from the deepsy and alrtioft 
from the belly of hell (3), the bowels of a heavenly Father 
will yearn over you as returning prodigals ; and I doubt 
not you will meet with . the reception that Ephraim 
found, when God faw him bemoaning and humbling him^ 
felf becaufe he had been as a bidlock unaccufiomed to the yoke ; 
when he cried, Turn thou me, and I Jh all be turned : for thou 
art the Lord my God; his heavenly Father anfwers him 
in thefe moil afFe(5lionate words ; attend to them, O 
thou returning finner, for thy comfort in this hour ef 
diftrefs ! Is Ephraim my dear f on P is he a pleafant child ? 
forfince If pake againjl him^ I do earnejlly remember himflill; 
therefore my bowels are troubled for him^ and I will furely have 
mercy upon him y faith the Lord (4). 

(i) Pfal. Ixi. %. {%) Joaah il 4. (3) Verfc %. 

(4) Jcr. xKxi. 18, to. 



192 SERMON IX. 

5. I would advife you farther, that you ** immedlateljr 
communicate the ftate of your cafe to fome experienced 
Chriftian." 

I know there is a backwardnefs in perfons of your 
circumftances to do it ; and it has been furprifing to me, 
to learn from the converfe of fome, who, in this refpe(5l, 
have afterwards grown wifer, how long they have been 
pining away in their forrows before they could be per- 
fuaded to confult their minifters or Chriftian friends. 
It is a ftratagem of Satan, againil which I would by all 
means caution you. And one would think your own 
reafon fhould fuggeft feme -ery obvious advantages at- 
tending the method I propofe, of opening your cafe free- 
ly to thofe whom you think to be more experienced in 
thefe things. The impreffion maybe revived upon your 
own fouls, even by the account ypu give them.: and 
their advice may be exceeding ufeful to you to guard 
you again fl: the wiles of the enemy which they have 
known, though hitherto yt^u are ilrangers to them ; and 
to guide you into fuch methods as, by the Divine bleiiing, 
may farther promote that good work which feems, in 
any mx.eafure, to have been begun within you. You may 
alfo depend upon it that it will engage their prayers for 
you; which, in this cafe, may have great prevalency. 
And it will alfo naturally lead tliem to infpeCt your con- 
duct : and if they fee you afterwards in danger of being ^ 
drawn afide, they may remind you of the hopes once en« 
tertained, and the imprefnons once made upon your 
mind. — In this refpe6t you may hope, that by ivalhing 
with <ivife men you wi// hs yet '■cju'ifer ( i ) ; and will foon 
find how happy an exchange you make, when you give 
up your vain, and perhaps wicked companions, that you 
may becom^e the companion of them that fear God^ and that 
keep his precepts (2) ; and may have your delight in iheniy 
who, in the judgm_ent of God, are the excellent of the 
earth (3), however they may bQ defpifed and derided by 
m-en. 

6. I would alfo advife that you ** er^deavour to fearch 
out thofe, if there be any fuch about or near you, who 
are much in your own circum.ftances.'' 

(ly Pfov. x\\\^%<^, {%) Ffal. cxix. 6j. (i) Pfal. xvi. 3. 



DIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS. I93 

Obferve, efpeclally among young people, v/hethei^ 
there are any that feem of late to have grown more fe- 
rious than ordinary ; and particularly more conftant irl 
attending the ordinances of God, and more cautious in 
venturing on occafions and temptations to fm ; and if 
you can difcover fuch, endeavour to form an acquaint- 
ance with them. Try by proper hints how far their cir- 
cum (lances refemble yours ; and as you find encourage- 
ment, enter into a flricler friendfhip v/ith them, founded 
on religion, and intended to promote it in each other^s 
hearts. Aifociate yourfelves in little bands for Chriftiaii 
converfe and prayer ; and by this means you will quick- 
en, and ftrengthen the hearts of each other. For on the 
one hand,' what they tell you of their own experience 
will much confirm you in a perfuafion that v/hat you 
find in yourfelves is not a mere fancy, but is really a Dl- 
vine ivork begupx on your hearts, and v»'ill give you encour- 
agement to purfue it as fuch ; for as face an/nvers to face 
In water ^ fo does the heart of man to man ( i ) : and on the 
other hand, the obfervation of your pious zeal v'ill 
quicken others, and may occafionthe revival of religion 
in the hearts of elder Chriflians ; as, I blefs God, I have 
found fome things of this kind have done, and hope (and 
through the Divine blefHng expedl) to find it more and 
more. Therefore exhort one another dally ^ ^while it is called 
to-day^ leji any of youjhould he hardened through the deceitful" 
nefs offm (2). Strengthen ye the iveak hands ^ and confrm the 
feeble knees {3) ; and be adured, that v'hile you are en- 
deavouring to help others, you will find in yourfelves 
the firil fruits of this happy attempt ; and while you 
nvater others y you ^vill he zuatered alfo yourfelves (4). 

7. It is an advice of the higheft importance, that 
*^ whoever you are, you fnould immediately fly to Chrilt, 
and repofe the confidence of your fouls upon him." 

Obferve that 1 urge you, whoever you are, to ^f 
immediately to Chrifl : and this I do, to guard againfl 
a (Irange notion which fome are ready to entertain, as 
If we were to bring fomething of our own righteoufnefs 

(i) Prov. xxvii. 19. (a) Heb, iii. 13. (3) Ifa. xxxv. j, 
(4) Prov« xi. 25. 

R 



194 SERMON IX, 

and obedience to him, to render us worthy of being ac- 
cepted by him. But this is a grand miftake. The blef- 
fmgs of the gofpel are not to be confidered as matter of 
bargain and fale : no, if we come to huy avine and miik, it 
muft be 'Without money and vj'ithout price (i ) ; and whoever 
^.vill take of the <water of life, mud do xX. freely (2). If he 
pretend to offer an equivalent, he forfeits his fhare in 
the Invitation ;" and muft be^ade to know, that the price 
he offers is a great affront to the value of the bleffings 

for which he would thus barter. Let this then be 

your language, *' Lord, I have undone myfelf, and in 
me is no help ; I fee norhing in myfelf which makes me 
worthy of thy regard ; but this I know, that where Jin has 
abounded^ grace does much more abound^ and reigns through 
right eoufnefs unto eternal life by Jefus Chnjl (3); through 
ivhom thou hafi: aiTured me in thy word that eternal life is 
the gift of God (4). As fuch let me receive it : and by 
how much the more undeferving I have been, by fo 
much the more will I celebrate the riches of thy grace 
in making me a veflel of mercy, and a monument of 
love throughout all eternity. — BlefTed Jefus, thou haft 
faid, that him ivho comes unto thee thou ivilt in no wife caji 
out (5) : behold, I come, and cafl: myfelf at thy feet; 
receive me, and/«^ me among the children (6), though I 
deferve not the very crumbs that fall from thy table (7)." 

You will not, I hope. Imagine that when I give fuch 
advice as this, I mean to infmuate that a perfon, purpof- 
ing to continue In his lins, may neverthelefs come and 
receive the bleffings of the Gofpel : for that would .be 
no other than in the groiTeft manner to pervert and con- 
tradidl the whole tenor of it. But this I fay, and re- 
peat it, that when once a fniner finds himfelf, by Divine 
grace, difpofed to turn from his lins to God, and made 
wllhng to accept the mercy tendered in the Gofpel, of 
"which a deliverance from fin and a renovation of nature 
are a great, important, and efTentlal part ; he may with 
cheerfulnef'5 apply himfelf to the great Redeemer, as one 
of thofe whomi he came on purpofe to deliver ; and in 
proportion to the degree in which he can difcern the fin- 

(i) Ifa. Iv. I. (2) Rev. xral. i ;, (3) Rom. v. ao, lu 

(4) Rom. vi. 23. (5) Jolui vi 37. (6) Jer. ill. 19. 

(7) Mat. XV. 27. 



BIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS. I93 

cerltr of his fentlments, he may open his heart to com- 
fort, how great foever his former unworthinefs has been, 
and how hitely foever fuch impreffions may have been 
made upon his heart. 

8. " Make the dedication of yourfelves to Chrlft and 
his fervice as folemn a thing as you can." 

We read in the A6ls of fome that nvere haptlzecJ, and 
publicly received into the church the v try fame day in which 
they ivere converted ( I ) ; and thougli a change of cu'- 
cumftances may at prefent render it convenient to defer 
doing it for fome time with the folemnity of the ordi- 
nance of the Lord^s fjpper, which is peculiarly intended 
for that purpofe ; becaufe it is proper that the ci^^cacr 
of your repentance and converfion Ihould firft of all be 
fo far feen, as in the judgment of charity to approve the 
fmcerity of it : yet I think, when you feel your hearts 
abfolutely determined for God, you ihould in a folemu 
manner lay hold of his covenant, in fecret at lead, as 
foon as poffible ; and declare, as before him that fearch- 
eth all hearts, the fincerity of that acceptance. — Some 
have recommended the doing this in a written engage- 
ment ; and there are feveral very affecting forms of this 
kind in books on this fubjed, which may very profitably 
be ufed. But I hope the fulnefs of your heart will dic- 
tate fomething of this kind, if fuch helps Ihould be want- 
ing, or if any peculiar conflderation ihould prevent their 
being ufed. — And furely, if you feel the love of the blef- 
fed Jefus glowing in your hearts as you ought, you will 
need no other engagement to yield yourfelves to him : 
that love will be inftead of ten thoufand arguments ; 
■and you will fee a fecret charm in the view of ferving 
him, which will engage your very foul to fpring for- 
ward with vigour and eagernefs to every proper inltance 
of it. The dread of future puniihment has certainly it^ 
ufe to reftrain from the commiffion of fm> efpecially in 
an hour of preffing temptation ; and the hope of that 
exceeding and eternal iveight of glory^ which the gofpel 
promifes, v/ill have a greater efficacy upon a generous 
mind ; yet 1 will venture to fay, that a heart powerfully 

(x) AtSls ii. 41, 47. 



Ipff 



SIRMON IX. 



impreiTed M'ltli the love of Jefus will liare a yet ftronger 
influence than cither of thefe. Cordial friendfhip needs 
not to be hired to perform its proper ofnce. Love is a 
law to itfelf : it adds a delightful reliih to every at- 
tempt for the fervice of its objed : and it is moft evi- 
dently thus in the prefent cafe. " Lord," will the 
Chriitian fay, " wilt thou do me the honour to accept 
any fesble attempt for thy fervice which I can form ? 
I thank thee for it, and bow my head before thee in the 
mod grateful acknowledgments, that thou favoured me 
with an ability to difcharge, in any degree, the fulnefs 
of my grateful heart in prefenting them. O that my 
whole foul m.ight daily rife before thee as an acceptable 
facriuce in the flame of love ! O that I might always 
feel my heart enlarged^ to run the luay of thy comtnandmetits 
( I ) ! Were the degree of my future happinefs from this 
moment invariably fixed, I v%^ould ftill purfue this de- 
lightful bufmefs ; for there is no other in which my foul 
could find a pleafure equal or comparable to it.'^ If 
jou feel fach thoughts as thefe rifmg in your mind, 
breathe them out before the throne from day to day ; 
and when you have done it, recollect frequently the vonvs 
of God^\?Ji are upon you (2) ; and fee, that halving fnvorn^ 
you perform it i^"^)^ and maintain in the v/hole of your 
lives a condud agreeable to fach a profeffion as this. 

9. " Gird up the loins of your mind to encounter 
v/ith a great deal of difficulty in your Chriftian courfe.'* 

Many are the difficulties that you mud expedt ; great, 
and poflibly for a while increafmg difficulties. It is 
c jmmonly faid indeed, that thofe difficulties which at- 
tend the entrance on a religious life are the greateil ; 
iAud in themfelves confidered, no doubt but they are fo : 
they arife from many quarters, and unite all together in 
the fame defign of keeping you from a believing appli- 
cation to Chrift, and a refolute clofure w^ith him. In 
this refpect, evil fometimes arifes to a man in his oiun 
hoife (4) ; and thofe, whofe near relation Ihould rather 
engage them to give the young convert the bed affid- 
ance, where his mod important intereds are concerned, 

(i) Pfal. cxix. 35;. (2) Pfal. Ivi. I2. (3) Hal cxix, 106. 

(4) Mat. X. 35, 36. 



DIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS. I97 

are on the contrary ready to lay a ftumbling block In 
his way ; and perhaps ad as if they had rather he ihould 
have no religion at all, than change a few circumftances 
in the outward profeflion of it. Worldly intereft too Is 
perhaps to be facrlficed ; and confcience cannot be pre- 
ferved without giving up the friendfhip of thofe whom 
at any other expenfe but confcience. a man would gladly 
oblige. And it is no wonder If Satan make his utmoft 
efforts, and thofe very unwearied too, that he may pre- 
vent the revolt of thefe fubjeds, or rather the efcape of 
his prifoners. The ChriiHan is therefore called upon by 
the Apoftle to arm himfelf as for a combat, and that 
at all points ; lo put on the whoh armour of God^ that he 
may be able to wthjiand in the evil day ; and having done ally 
tojiand ( J ) . 

Nor mud you, my friends, though as foon as you have 
put on your harnefs you gain fome important vi(51:ory, boajl 
as if you might fecurely/w^ it off i^i^. Your whole lif<2 
mufh be a feries of exercife. Through much oppofitlon, as 
well as much tribulation^ you mnji enter into the kingdom if 
God (3) : and though your difficuities may generally 
be greateft at firft, yet your encouragements then may 
perhaps be fo peculiarly great, and your fpirits under 
their firft religious impreffions fo warm, that other diffi- 
culties, in themfelves fmaller, may prefs more fenfibly 
upon you. Endeavour therefore to keep yourfelves in a 
prepared pofture : Put on a fteady refolutlon ; and to 
fupport \Ufit do'wn and count the cofiy lejl having begun to 
huildy you fhamefully defift and be not able tojinijlj it (4)5 
or having put your hand to the plough^ you fhould look back^ 
and become unfit for the kingdom of God (5). And there- 
fore, 

TO. " Let every ftep in this attempt be taken wiih a 
deep fenfe of your own weaknefs, and a humble depen- 
dence upon Divine grace to be communicated to you as 
the matter requires.^' 

Recollect ferioufly what I v/as telling you in a former 
Difcourfe, of the neceffity of a Divine agency and inter- 

(i) Ephef. vi. IT, 13. (2) I Kings xx. n. (3) Luke ix 65. 
(4) Luke xiv. a8, 30. (5) Luke ix. 6i. 
R2 



igS SERMON IX, 

pofition ; and remember, it depends upon God, not onlf 
to begin the good zvorky but alio to carry it on, and perform 
it until the day of Jsfus Chrijl ( I ). If we trujl in our own 
hearts, efpecially after this folemn admonition, this plain 
mftru^tlon, added to fuch frequent experience, we are 
fools indeed (2). Let us therefore t7'uji in the Lord, and 
not lean to our own underfiandlng (3). And do you, my 
friends, who have but juR lifted yourfelves in this holy 
war, every one of you iay, with an humble yet cheerful 
heart, in the name of onf God will we fet up our banners (4). 
And if thus you wait on the Lord, ^o\x fiall renews you f 
ftrengih ; and even the feehlejl foul fliali be enabled by 
Divine grace to mount up with wing as eagles, and to prefs 
on from one degree of religious improvement to ano- 
ther, while the youths ft:all faint and he weary, and the young 
men f 'jail utterly fall {^^, The Apoftle exprefles, in the 
livelieft manner, his dependence on the Divine Redeemer 
to communicate this grace in a proper degree, when he 
fays, Let us come boldly to the throne of grdce, that we may 
ohtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (6) : 
plainly implying, that it may be obtained if we have 
but hearts to feek for it ; which, as on the one hand, it 
effectually takes off all idle excufes for the neglecft of 
our duty, pleaded from our own acknowledged weaknefs, 
?Jiy further than Vv^e are fapported by the Divine power ; 
fo on the other hand it animates the heart, that, fenfible 
of its various infirmities, denres neverthelefs to go forth 
to the work of God, and to confecrate all its fiiculties to 
iiis fervice ; ufmg them, fuch as they are, for God, and 
jiumbly feeking froi^ him the enlargement of them. 

Go therefore, vaj friends, into the Divine prefence ; 
?nd while under a fenfe of this be not difcouraged, 
though mountains of oppofidon may lie in your way. 
Thofe mountains fid all he made low, and fpread themfelves 
into ^7 />/^j/Vi before you (7); v/hile you go forth under 
the influenpes of the Spirit of the Lord, who is able to make 

all gro a abound to his people (8). Of this Paul in 

our text wa? a moll celebrated inftance, who not only 

(i) Phil. i. 6. (a) Prcv. xxvili, ^6. (3) Prov. ili. 5. 

(4' Ffr], XX, 5. (0 Ifa. xL 30, 31. (6) Heb. iv. i6. 

(7) Ifa, xl. 4. (8) 2 Cor. ix. 8, 



DIRECTIONS TO AWAKENED SINNERS, I 99 

received, as was here promifed, dlreStons <what heJhouJd do^ 
but had ftrength alfo given him to perform it ; Sijlrength^ 
which was made perfed and ilhiftrious in his <weaknefs ( 1 ) : 
and when, in confequence of this, he had attained to 
very ditlinguifhed improvements in religion, and had 
been enabled to a6t up, in the moft honourable manner, 
not only to the Chriftian charadler in general, but to 
that of a minifter and an Apoftle, he acknowledges, in all 
his abundant labours, that it was not he, hut the grace of God 
that ^ as "jutth him (2). 

If it be thus with you, my brethren, you will be ejiah- 
I'lfhed and built up in your moft holy faith (3). The mod 
agreeable hopes we form concerning you, when we fee 
you under fuch ferious impreffions as this Difcourfe fup- 
pofes, will be anfwered ; an ? they nvho have fpoken to you 
the word of God, on fuch occafions as thefe, will have the 
pieafure to think that they have not run in vain (4). 

And now if thefe diredions, w^hich I have offered to 
you with great plainnefs and freedom, but with the fin- 
cereft defire of you edification and eftablifhment in relig- 
ion, be ferioufly purfued, I (hall have the fatisfadion of 
thinking, that though I might find you in the number of 
the unregenerate when I began thefe ledlures, I fhall car- 
ry you on along with me through the only head that y^et 
remains to be handled ; and ihall indeed addrefs myfelf 
to y^ou, as thofe who <ivere fometimes darknefs, hut are now 
light in the Lord {^), when I proceed to addrefs thofe who 
have been renevv^ed by Divine grace, which I promifed 
as my laft general, and with which I fhall conclude my 
Difcourfes on this important fubjed. 



(i) % Cor. xii. 9. (2) I Cor. xv. lo, (3) Col ii. 7. Jud. ver. sc* 
(4) Phil. ii. i6, (5)Eph.v. 8, 



SERMON X, 



AN ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE, FOUNDf|5 ON 
THE PRECEDING DISCOURSES. 



James i. iS. 



Of his own 'Will Begat he us ^ith the ivord of truths that 
ive Jhould be a kind of firfl fruits of his creatures* 

INTEND the words, which I have now been readings 
only as an introdudion to that addrefs to the fons and 
daughters of the Lord Almighty^ with which I am now to 
conclude tbefe Ledures ; and therefore fh all not enter in- 
to any critical difcuffion. either of them, or of the con- 
text. I hope God has made the feries of thefe difcoiir- 
fes, in feme meafure, ufeful to thofe for whofe fervice 
they v/ere immediately intended : but if they have net 
been fo to ail, and if with relation to many I have labour^ 
edin vain from Sabbath to Sabbath, I cannot be furprif- 
cd at it. What am I better than my fathers ( i ) ? It has, in 
every age, been their complaint, that they have flretchtd 
out their hands all the day to a difchedlent and. gainfaying peoph 
( 2 ) ; that the bellows have been bjirnt, and the lead confum* 
ed of the fre^ but the drofs has not been taken away : fuch 
reprobate fdver have multitudes been found (3 ). Yea, the 
Lord Jefus Chrift himfelf, who fpake with fuch unequal- 
led eloquence, with fuch divine energy, yet met v/ith 
multitudes, who were like the deaf adder ^ that would, not 

(i) I Kings xix. 4. (z) Ifa. Ixv. %. Rom. x, %\. (3) Jer. vi. 29. 3O0 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE. 201 

hearhn to the 'voice of the wifeft charmer ( i ) : and furely thi 
difciple is not above his majler^ nor thefervant above his lord[ 2 ). 
When indeed we confider the infinite importance of 
the meflage we addrefs to you, Oh ye perifhing fniners ! 
tve hardly know how to give over, or to take a denial. We 
feel a ftrong impulfe on our hearts to give line upon line^ 
;ind precept upon precept (3) : as a phyucian that loves his 
natient< when he fees the diftemper prevailing, and has 
^i*w4 : 'Gugh the whole range of medicines, is ready, 
Hir.i^t life yet remains, not entirely to give over, but to 
repeat again what he had prefcribed unfuccefsfully be- 
fore. And if God fpares our lives, no doubt many of 
thofe things which I have before been urging, muit in 
fubilance be repeated. But at prefent I will defift : I 
know not what more or further to lay ; and if you are 
utterly unimpreifed with what I have already laid before 
you, efpecialiy with regard to the charader of the unre- 
generate — the nature of regeneration- — the abiblute ne- 
ceffity of it — and of the Divine agency in producing it ; 
—I know not what further to urge, and muR leave you 
either to the grace or the judgment of God. The time 
tv^ill certainly come, v/hen you will fee and own the im- 
portance of thefe things. The word of God will, in one 
fenfe or another, take hold of every foul that hears it, 
and, perhaps on fome of you in a very terrible manner, 
and in a very little time. But if it do, I may fay with 
the apoftle Paul, when in token of the folemnity with 
which he fpoke, hefiooh his raiment^ and took leave of his 
obftinate hearers, / am clean from your blood {^) '^ and 
fmce you refufe to be inftru6ced, I turn to thofe who 
regard what I fay. And thus, according to the method 
I at firft propofed, I proceed, 

Seventhly, To conclude thefe Difcourfes with an ad- 
drefs to thofe, who, by Divine Grace, are experimental- 
ly acquainted with this great work of regeneration ; to 
fhew them how they ought to be aiFed:ed with the confed- 
eration of the truths that have been offered, and what . 
improvement they fhould make of fuch a courfe of Ser- 
mons as you have lately been attending. 

(i) Pfalm Ivili. 4, 5. (a) Mat. x. 24. (3) Ifa.5xviii. I0» 
(4) Ads xviii. 6. 



20£ SERMON X. 

Out of a general regard to the glory of God and the 
good of fouls, you have attended on what has hitherto 
been fpoken to perfons of a very different character ; and 
I hope not altogether without fonie fenfible refrefhment 
and advantage ; but now hear more immediately for 
yourfelves, 2Xidifuffer a nvord of exhortatmi in fuch partic- 
ulars as thefe : Be thankful to God for what you have 
experienced ; improve it as an engagement to behave in 
a fuitable manner ; ftudy to promote the v^ork of Ood 
upon the hearts of others ; — and long for that blefiM 
world where the change that is now begun, and is grad- 
ually advancing in your fouls, fliall be univerfal and 
complete. Your own wifdom and piety have, no doubt, 
prevented me in each of thefe particulars ; but you will 
be glad to enter more fully into the reflecflion than you 
could do, while it v/as intermingling itfelf with other 
thoughts. 

[i.] " Return the mod afFedionate acknowledgments 
of praife to the God of all mercy for the experience you 
have had of a regenerating change." 

I would now addrefs this exhortation and charge to 
every one of you, who, through Divine grace, hope you 
can fay, that you are horn again ; to all who can fay, 
that God has, of his own ivlll, begotten you iv'tth the nvord 
ef truth, that you may he a kind of firfi fruits of his creatures* 
To you I would fay, Sing unto the Lord, ye faints of his ^ 
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holinefs and good- 
nefs (i). Give thanhs to the Father, who has made you 
meet to^ be partakers of the inheritance of the faints in light (2). 
Join your voices and your hearts in the moft cheerful 
hymns of praife, whatever your different circumftances 
are. Let the young and the old, the rich and the poor, 
the honourable and the mean, rejoice together; if any 
may be called poor, who are thus enriched ; if any may 
be accounted mean, who are thus honoured. Blefs the 
Lord at all times, let his praife be continually in your 
mouths {3) ; and endeavour to carry along with you, 
through the daikeft road you travel, and the bittereft 
forrows you talle, cheerfulnefs in your hearts, and praife 

(i) Ffal yxx. 4. {%) Col. i. iz. (3) Pfal xxxiv. I, 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE. 203 

©11 your tongues ; confiderlng — how important the blef^ 
fing is with which the Lord has favoured you ; — how 
few there are who partake of it ;— *and in the midft of 
how much oppofition the Divine grace has taken hold 
of your fouls, and wrought its wonders of love there. 

I. Confider, my Chriftian friends, "how important 
this favour is which God has bellowed upon you," ia 
thus begetting you as a kind of frjl-fruits of his creatures, 

Juftly indeed may I fay, Behold nvhat tnanner of love the 
Father hath hejlowed upon us, that ive Jldould be regenerated 
by his grace, and fo he called^ and that with propriety, the 

fotis of God ( I ) 1 Juftly may I fay to you, now you are 
afTembled in the cciirts cf the Lord^ in thofe em.phatical 
words of David, Oh corner let us nvorjhip, and ho'iv do<wn ; 
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker ( 2 ) : for it is he that 
has made us and not we ourfhes, with regard to this fec- 
ond, as well as the iirft creation ; and we^ in confeiquence 
of it, are in the noble ft fenfe his p&ople^ and the Jheep of 

ihis pa/lure : enter, therefore, into his gates with thankfgiving^ 
and into his courts with praife ; be thankfid unto him^ and 
hlefs his name ( 3 ) . 

'■ My brethren, it is a favour in which the falvation of 
your fouls is concerned ; and can that be fmall ? or 
-oughc It ever to be thought of but with the higheft emo- 
tion and enlargednefs of heart ? The gracious purpofes 
of God towards his children are to make every one of 
them higher' than the kings of the earth (4), to give them 
more folid fatisfadion than crowns and kingdoms can af- 
ford, and at length to raife them to a diadem of immor- 
tal glory. Oh what reafon have you with the Apoftle, 
to fay, Ble^ed he the God and Father of our Lord jfefus 
Chrifl, who, according to his abundant mercy , has begotten its 
again to a lively hope, by the refurredion of Jefas Chrifl from 
the dead, even to the hope of an inheritance incorruptible, and 
undejiled, and that fadeth not away, referved in heaven for us^ 
who are kept by the power of God through faith unto falvation 
{5) ! Survey this great privilege which God has already 
given you, this high fecurity, thefe glorious hopes. Has 

(i) I John ill. I. (a) Pfal. xcv. 6. (3) Pfal. c. 3, 4. 

(4) PiaU Ixxxix. %i, (5) I Pet. i. i—^. 



204 SERMON X. 

he not brought the beginning of glory already nito your 
fouls ? has he not wrought you to a fihal temper, and 
taught you to cry, yibha Father ( i ) ? Has he not, in 
feme meafure, formed and fafliioned your minds to a 
meetnefs to d\vell with angels and perfeded fpirits in 
heviven ? So that you can now fay, even wilh relation to 
that which you already feel, that you are no more Jiv angers 
and foreigners^ hit fdlG'W'Citi%ens <vjlth the faints^ and of the 
houfehold :^of God (2). You are even no^u) the fons of God ^ 
and it doth not yet appear ivhat youjhall he ( 3 ) ; but there 
is enough appears, and enough known at prefent, of 
what you fhall be, and of w^hat you are, to revive, to de- 
light, to tranfport the heart. 

And is not this too, O thou aflllfled foul, v/ho art 
called to encounter v\ath the moil: painful difficulties, 
enough to be the means of thy fupport^ and to afford thee 
matter for thy ilrong confolation ? You that are tojfed 
'With tempejis (4), and obliged to ilruggle under various 
and long continued burthens, have you not here a joy 
that the world can neither beftow^ nor impair, a pleafure 
in public and in fecret duties, and a hof)e, which is as the 
anchor of the foul both fur e andftedfijjj, entering into that ^ivith^ 
in the. vetl (5), and fo enabling you to outride .thefe ftorms 
and te'mpeiLS ? How glorious dees your lot appear when 
vievved in the light of Scripture ! You are exprefsly told. 
All things are yours (6) : the Lord ^tvlll give grace and glory, 
and no good thing ivillhe withhold from you ( 7 ) : ^// the paths 
of the Lord are mercy and truth to you (8) ; and ere long 
you fhall fee hov/ they are fo. You have a fight by 
faith of the inheritance appointed for his children ; but 
he does not intend merely a diftant profped for you : you 
JIjoII go in and pojfefs that good land (9), and fhall ere long 
be alfent from the hody^ and prefent <iuith the Lord (10): yea, 
the Lord Jefus Chrij}^ ere \ongf Jhall come to be glorified in 
his faints^ and to be admired in all them that believe (11), to be 
glorified and admired, in and by you in particular ; 
v/hen bearing the image of your heavenly Father, you 
ihall rife far beyond this earth and all its vain anxieties, 

(0 Gal iv. 6. (2) Eph. ii. 19. (3) I John iii. %, 

(4) Ifa. liv. II. (5) Kcb.vi. 19. (6) i Cor.iii. %i, 

(7) PiaLlxxxiv. II. (8) Pfal. xxy. 10. (9} Deut. iv, %%. 
(10) % Cor. V. 8. (11) 2 Thcfi* i. la 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERAT£* 205 

and vainer amufements, to dwell forever In his prefencc. 
And what is there in this world that you Imagine you 
>7ant, which is by any means to be compared with thefe 
enjoyments and hopes ? Surely^ Sirs, in fuch a view, ycix 
fhould be much more than content ; and lliould feel 
your inward admiration, love, and joy, burfting tha 
ionds of filence, and tuning your voices, that have been 
broken by fighs, into the rnoft cheerful and exalted an- 
thems of praife : efpecialiy when you confider, 

2. " How few there are that partake of this import* 
ant favour, which God has extended to you.'' 

I hope I need not, after all I have faid, remind you at 
large, that I intend not by any means to fpeak, as exclud- 
ing thofe of different forms and different experiences ; 
as if, in confequence of that diverfity, they had neither part 
nor lot In this matter ( i ). I hope that many who are noc 
fo ready, as it were to be vviihed, to receive one another^ 
are neverthelefs, in this refpect, received by Chr'ijl to the 
glory of God {2), Yet the temper and conduct of the 
generality of mankind, even under a Chriftian profeffion, 
too plainly fhew, that they have the marks of eternal 
fuln upon them ; and one can form no hope concerning 
them, confident v/ith the tenor of the whole word of 
God, any other than this, that pollibly they may hereaf- 
ter be changed into fomething contrary to what they 
ere, and in that change be happy. 

Now that you are not left among the wide extended 
ruins of mankind, but are fet as pillars In the building of 
God, is what you have been taught by the preceding 
Difcourfes to refer to the grace of God, which has taken 
and poliihed you to the form you now bear : or, as the 
Evangeliil expreifes it, in language more fuitable to the 
fubjedt before us, //^f^c'it'^r, or privilege, to become the fans 
oj God, is what he gives to as many as receive hhn ; and it 
Is manifefi: as to your regeneration, that you are born^ not 
ofhhod, nor of the ^wlll of the flefly, nor of the ^lll of man, but 
^f God (3) : for <we love hhn, becaufe he jirfl loved us (4) i 
and whatfoever our attainments be, there is no true be«' 

(1) Adts vui\ 21. (z) Rom. xt. 7. (3) John i. la, ij. 
(4) I Jolui iv. 19. 

s / 



5o6 SERMON X. 

llever but v/ill be ready, with the Apoftle Paul, to fay, 
By the grace of Gody I am what I am {i). 

And now, when thele two thoughts are taken in this 
comparifon with each other, how deeply fhould they im- 
prefs our minds 1 and how iliould it excite us to the moft 
liv^ely gratitude, to confider that when fo many of our 
fellow-creatures perifh, even under the found of the Gof- 
pel ; that when they live and die under the power of a 
corrupt and degenerate nature, defpifmg all the means 
which God has given them of becoming better, and 
turning them into the occafion of greater mifchief: God 
fhould gracioufly incline our hearts to a wifer and better 
choice ! It is indeed a melancholy reile(5ticn, that the 
number of thofe who are made wife to falvation fhould 
be fo fmall ; yet it is an endearing circumftance in the 
Divine gcodnefs to us, that when it is fo fmall, we fhould 
be included in it : as no doubt it would appear to cvqij 
truly religious perfon in the ark, that when but eight 
fouls nvere fa^ved from the deluge, he fhould be one.-— 
There is now a remnant^ fays the Apoftle, according to the 
eledion of grace (2) : to that grace therefore fhould we 
render the praife. We have indeed chofen him ; but it 
is in confequence o( his choofing us \'i^). We have faid, 
The Lord is my portion ; but let us remember to hlefs him 
Xh^i^ he has given us that counfl (4), in confequence of 
which we have been inclined to do it. Again, 

3. Confider, " in the midil of how much oppofition 
the grace of God has laid hold on your fouls, and 
wrought its wonders of love there." 

Chriftians, look into your own hearts ; yea, look back 
upon your own lives, and fee whether many of you have 
not reafon to fay, widi the great Apoftle, // is a faithful 
faying^ and ivorthy of all acceptation, that Chrifi Jefus came 
into the nvorld, to favefmners, ofivhom I am chief {^) : and 
yet to fne, zuho am lefs than the leafl of all faints ^ is this grace 
given(6), that 1 fliould be a regenerate, adopted child of 
God, begotten to an inheritance of eternal glory. 

" Oh," may one Chriftlan fay, " how obftinately did 
I ftrive againft my own happinefs 1 like a poor creature 

(i) I Cor. XV. 10. (a) Rom. xi. 5. (3) John xv. 16. 
(4) Pfal. xvi. J, 7. (5) I Tim. i. 15. (6) Eph. iii. 8, 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE. 20/ 

that, having received fome dangerous v/ound, and being 
delirious with a fever attending it, ftruggles with the 
hand that is ftretched out to heal him. How did 1 draw 
back from the yoke of God 1 How did I trifle with con- 
viaions, and put them off from one time to another ! 
So that God might moft righteoufly have awakened any 
heart rather than mine. He admoniihed me by his word, 
and by his providence ; he fent afflidlions ; he wrought 
out deliverances for me ; and yet I went on to harden 
my heart, as if I had been afPii^ed and delivered, that I 
might work greater abominations ( i ) ; till the Lord being mer* 
cifid to msy laid hold upon me, and drew me out of Sodom {i) J* 
And here another Chriftian v/ill be ready to fay with- 
in himfelf, " If the grace of God wrought fooner upon 
me, when my foul was more pliant, when my heart was 
comparatively tender in infancy or childhood, or in ear- 
ly youth ; yet what ungrateful returns h?vVe I fince made 
for his mercy ! How defeftive have 1 been in tliofe fruits 
of holinefs which might reafonably have been expelled 
from me, who have fo long a time been planted in the 
houfe of the Lord I Alas for me ! that I hzYtfourifloed no 
more in the courts of my God {'x,). How often have I for- 
gotten andforfaken him, how ccld and negligent has my 
fpirit been, how inconftant my walk, how indolent m_y be- 
haviour, for thefe many years that h'r^ve paffed fince I 
was firil brought Into his family 1 How little have I done 
in his fervice in proportion to the advantages I have en- 
joyed ! All this he foreiaw ; all the inftances in which 
my goodnefs would be ^j* ^ morning cloud, and as the early 
dew (4) ; all the inftances in which this perverfe heart of 
mine, fo prone to backilide, fhould turn afide, and ftart 
back from him like a deceiful how (5) : and yet he has 
mercy upon me, I know not w^hy : I cannot pretend to 
account for it any otherwife than by faying, Evenfo Fa- 
ther , for fo it feemed good in thy f.ght (6) ; thou hajl 
mercy on whom thou wilt have mercy, and thou hafl coynpaf- 
Jlon on whom thou wilt have compajfion (7). I have revolt- 
ed deeply from thee again and again ; yet thou fuffer- 
eil me not to be loft to this very day, nor Vs'ilt thou ever 

(i) Jer. vii. 10, {^) Gen. xlx. 16. (3) Pfal. xcli. 13. 

(4) Hof. vi. 4. (5) Pfal. Ixxviii. 57. (6) Mat. xi. a6, 

{7) Rom. ix. 15. 



ao3 SERMOV X. 

fuJBFerit : Thou rcjlorffl my foul ; thou leaieji inc m the pat%: 
cf right eGiifneJs for thy name^s fake ( I ). Halving therefore oh* 
tabled help of God, I co7itinue to this day (2); RXid furely 
goodne/s and mercy fid all folloiv me all the days of my life ; and 
unworthy as I am fo much as to enter into thine houfe 
below, IJhall dwell in the houfe of the Lord forever above ( 3 )^ 
Thus, Lord, thou makeft me, as it were, a wonder to my- 
felf ; and I hope to exprefs my admiration and my grati- 
tude throughout eternal ages : and if I can vie w-ith the reft 
of thy redeemed ones in nothing elfe, I will at lead do it 
in bowing low before thy throne, and acknowledging 
that I am of the number of the moft unworthy, in w^honi 
my Lord has been pleafed to glorify the riches of hifi 
inercYj and the freedom of his grace/' 

in the mean time, Chriilians, 1 call you often to en* 
tertain yourfelves with fuch view's as thefe, often to excite 
your hearts by. fuch lively confiderations : I call you, m 
the name of your Father and your Saviour, to a whole 
life of gratitude and praife. And this leads me to add, 

[2.] " Improve tliofe experiences you have had of Di- 
vine grace, as an engagement to behave in a fuitable 

manner," 

Remember the lively admonition of the text, that you 
V/ere IcgcUc^i ly htm for this very purpofe, that you Jhould 
he a kind of frji-frints of his creatures. See, therefore, tl-iat. 
yen be entirely confecrated to him ; and behave as be- 
comes the children of Qod.in the nnclfl of a crooked and per* 
'verfe generation : being not only harmlefs and hlamelefs 
among them, hvXfmmng as lights in the ^orld, and holding 
forth that ivord of life (4), by w^hich he has begotten you 
to hirnfelf, a7id quickened you when you were dead in trcfpajfes 
and fins (5). God has now^ brought you into a moft hon- 
ourable relation : he may tlierefore well expe<5l more, 
much more from you than from others. He has mads 
you priejis to hlmfelf [6), and you are therefore to offer vp 
fpiritual facr\fces, acceptable to God by Jefus Chrifl (7 ). T^on 
ivere once darknefs^ but now are ye light in the Lord ; wmk 
therefore as children of light (8). Remember you are not 

(t) Pfal. xxlii. 3. (a) AcSls xxvi. ^^. (3) Pfal. xxiiL 6. 

(.1) Phil. ii. 15,^6. (5) Eph. ii. i, 5. (6) Rer. i..6. 

(7) I Pet.il. 5. (8)Eph. V, 8. 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE. 209 

your own ( i ) ; your time, your poffeffions, and all your 
capacities for fervice, are the property of your heavenly 
Father. And permit me to remind you, that if you 
defire to fee this dodrine of regeneration prevail, you, 
who pretend to be experimentally acquainted with it, 
muft take great care that your behaviour may not only 
be innocent, but exemplary : otherwife, many will be 
ready to blafpheme the hcly name of that God (2), whom 
you call your Father ; and you are like to bring a re- 
proach upon the houjehold offaith^ which probably you will 
never be able to roll away. 

Chriftians, the dignity of our birth and our hopes is 
too little confidered and regarded ; and the reafon why 
the world thinks fo meanly of it, is becaufe we ourfelves 
are fo infenfible of its excellency. Did we apprehend it 
more, we fhould furely.be more folicitous to walk worthy 
^that calling wherewith we are called (3), that high and 
holy calling. Let me therefore exhort you to endeavour 
to loofen your afFedions more from thefe entanglements 
of time and fenfe, which fo much debafe our minds, and 
difhonour our lives, Tield y ourfelves unto God as thofe that 
are alive from the dead{^\) : employ, with a growing zealj to 
the honour of God, that renewed life vs^hich he has given 
you : Be not cotiformed to this worlds but be ye transformed 
by the renewing of your minds (5) : and let your converfa- 
tion and behaviour be like thofe who feel the corifiraining 
influences of Divine love (6) ; who are, not in form, but 
in reality, devoted to God ; and who would be continu- 
ally watting for his falvation (7), with that temper in 
which you could rnoix defire that falvation to find you 
when it comes. 

[3.] Let thofe who have experienced the power of 
Divine grace themfelves, " ftudy to promote the work of 
God upon the hearts of others." 

Labour, as much as poffible, to fpread this temper 
which God has wrought in your hearts ; for you can- 
not but know that with it you fpread true happinefs, 

(i) I Cor. vi. 19. (2) 2 Sam. xii. 14. (3) Eph. Iv. i. 

(4) Rem. vi. 13. (5) Rom. xii. %, (6) 2 Cor, v. 14. 

(7) Gen. xiix. 18. 



CIO SERMON X. 

\vhich alone is to be found in that intercoiirfe with the 
great Author of our being, for which this lays a founda- 
tion, and in the regular exercife of thofe powers which 
are thus fandified. No fooner was Paul converted him- 
felf, but he prefently fet himfelf to bring others to Chriil, 
and io preach the faith which once be dcjiroyed {l)» And 
David fpeaks of it as the effedl of God*s pardoning love 
to him, Then ivill I teach tranfgrejfors thy ivaysy and Jinners 
fiall he converted unto thee (2). 

If, therefore, God has called us to the oiEce of the 
miniftry, as the experience cf this change on our own 
hearts will be cur belt qualification for our public work 
(and indeed fuch a cjualification that nothing elfe can 
fupply the want of it) ; fo it Vv^ill furely excite us in a 
very powerful manner to apply vigoroufly to this care. 
That rivhich ive have not only heard^ bvXfeen fwith our eyesy 
and locked uporiy and handled of the nvord of life ^ let us de- 
dare io others ; that their fello'ivpnp aljo may he with the 
Father^ and with his Son Jefus Chrijl (3). Let us declare 
it in our public difcourfes, and never, be afhamed to 
bear cur teftimony to that grace to which we are fo 
jnuch indebted ; to that grace by which we are what we 
are (d,). Let us warn every man, and teach e'very man the 
abfolute neceffity of regeneration ; and expofe the van- 
ity of all thofe hopes which are built upon any fair out- 
iidQ^ on any moral decency of behaviour, or any humane 
tarn of temper, on any warm flight of imagination or 
emotion of paCions, while the foul continues unrenewed 
wvA unfandified. Let us endeavour to fave men with 
fear^ pulling them out of the fire (5), which, if they are yet , 
unrcp-enerate, is juft ready to kindle upon them* And 
let us be often reviewing our refpe(5Hve flecks, that we 
may fee vrho they are, concerning whom there is rea- 
fon to entertain this fear ; that proper applications may 
be rrxade to them in private, as w^ell as in public \ that 
joining our admonitions to our ferm.ons, and our 
prayers and examples to both, we may at leaf!: deliver 
cur own fouls (6), if v/e cannot deliver theirs. But 
in proportion to the degree that fuch a fpirit prevails ' 

(i) Gal i. 13. (2) Ffal. I'. 13. (3) i John 1. I, 3. 

(4) I Cor. XV. 10, Is) Jude ver. 23. (6) Ezek. xxxiii. 9, 



ADPRESS TO THE REGENERATE. Ill 

in US, there is v:ery great encouragement to hope it will 
be propagated to them, and that our labour Jhall not be in 
Khun in the Lord ( i ). 

And let me befeech you, my beloved hearers in other 
ftations of lifcj that you would not imagine the work Is 
fo entirely ours that you have nothing to do with it. 
Are we alone redeemed by the blood of the Son of God ? 
Are we alone renewed and fan(ftified by his grace ? Are 
we alone the brethren and friends of mankind, that the 
generous care and endeavour to promote their eternal 
happinefs ftiould be entirely devolved upon us ? We wiih 
fo well to the world, and permit us to fay, we wiih fo 
well to you, to your own religious confolation and eftab- 
lifliment, to your comfortable account, to your eternal 
reward, that we cannot but earneftly exhort you all, 
even as many as have tajied that the Lord is gracious (2), 
that in this refped: you join, not only as I truft you do> 
your prayers with ours, but that you alfo join your en- 
deavours. 

Let me particularly addrefs this exhortation to thofe 
of you who bear any diftinguiihed office in the fociety, 
to whom therefore its religious intereils are dear by ad- 
ditional ties. I^et me addrefs to thofe of you whofe age 
and experience, in the human and the divine life, give 
you fomething of a natural authority in your applica- 
tion, and command a diftinguiflied regard. Look round 
about you and obferve the (late of religion in your neigh- 
bourhood ; and labour to the utmoft to propagate not 
fo much this or that particular opinion or form of v/or- 
fhip, but real vital Chriftianity in the world. Bear your 
teftimony to it on all proper occanons : be not alhamed 
of it in you familiar difcourfe : and above all, labour to 
adorn it by your anions. And when you fee any under 
ferious impreilions, as it is certain they will have a great 
deal difcouraging and difficult to break through ; and 
as the devil and his inftruments, among whom I muft 
neceiTarily reckon licentious company, will be doing their 
utmoft to draw them back into the fnare of the fowler ; 
let me exhort and charge you to be as folicitous to fave 
as others are to deftroy. I know hov/ many excufes our 

(i) I Cor. xv. 58. {%) I Pet. ii, 3. 



212 SERMON X. 

cowardly and indolent hearts are ready to find out up- 
on fuch an ocvcafion : but I think thofe words of Solo- 
mon are a fufBcient anfwer to all, and I beg you would 
feriouily revolve them ; If thou forbear to deliver them that 
are drawn unto deaths and thofe that are ready to bejiain : if 
thou fayefi. Behold tve knew it not ; doth not he that ponder eth 
the heart confider it P and he that heepeth thy fouly ( thine, Oh 
Chriftian, with fuch peculiar and gracious care) doth not ^ 
he know it ? and fh all not he render to every man according to 
his works ( I ) ? He will afTuredly remember, and will 
abundantly reward, every work offaithy and every labour 
of love ( 2 ) ; and we are infenfible of our o\\ai true in- 
tereft, if we do not fee how much it is concerned here. 

Let me efpecially leave this exhortation with you who 
are parents and heads of families. And one would imagine 
there fhouldneed but little importunity in fuch a cafe as 
this : one would think your own hearts Ihould fpeak to 
you, upon fuch an occafion, in very pathetic language. 
Look upon your dear children, to whom you have con- 
veyed a nature which you know to be degenerate and 
corrupt ; and be earnefl in your prayers before God, and 
your endeavours with them, that it may be renewed. 
And take care that you do not in this fenfe defpife the 
foul of your manfervant^ or of your maidfervant (3). God 
has brought them under your care, it may be in thofe 
years of life in v/hich on the one hand, they are moft 
capable of being inftruded and ferioufly impreffed ; and 
in which, on the other hand, they are alfo moft in danger 
of being corrupted. Perhaps their relation to you, and 
abode with you, is the moft advantageous circumftance 
Vv^hich may occur in their w^hole lives : fee therefore that 
you feize it with a holy eagernefs ; and amidft all the 
charges you give them relating to your own bufmefs, 
negledl not that of the one thing needful (4) ; and labour 
heartily to bring them to the honour and happinefs which 
is common to all God's fervants, and peculiar to them 
alone. 

Let me conclude this part of my addrefs with entreat- 
ing you all to exprefs your concern for the fouls of others, 
by your importunate prayers to God for them. Pray 

(i) Prov. xxiv. ti, i:^, (2) I Their, i. 3. Heb» vi. 10, 
(3; Job xxxi. 13. (4) Luke x, 4^« 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE, aij 

for the fuccefs of gofpel ordinances ; and for a bleffing 
on the labours of all God's faithful fervants through- 
out our whole land, of one or another denomination 
in religion. Yea, praj that thoughout the whole 
world, God would remve his work in the midji of the 
years ( i ) ; that the religion of his Son, by which io 
^ many fouls have been regenerated, refined, and faved, 
may be univerfally propagated ; and that all who are 
vigoroufly engaged in fo important, though fo felf-de» 
nying a work, may find that the hand of the Lord is with 
them J and fo multitudes believe and turn mito the Lord (2) ; 
fo that his fans may he brought from far^ and his daughters 
from the ends of the earth ( 5; ) ; that the barren may rejoice^ and 
Jhe that did not travail with child j may break forth intofingingy 
and cry aloud ^^ that the children of VM\ons now Jrangers to 
Chrijl^ may be more than of thofe that are already efpoufed to 
him (4). And then, 

[4.] Let all that are born again, "long for that blef- 
fed world, where the work of God fhall be completed, 
and we fhall appear with a dignity and glory bjecoming 
his children.'^ 

As for Gody his work is perfeB{^) ; and the time, the 
happy time is approachmg, when we fnali know, and the 
whole world fliall know, in another mamier than we now 
do^ what our heavenly Father liRs intended for us in be- 
getting us to himfelf. — Whatever our attainments here 
m2,Yht,we know at prefent but in part (6) : and with 
whatever integrity of foul we now walk before God, we 
are fan(5lified but in part : and hereupon we find, and 
muft exped to find, theflefhjlrimng againflthefpirit^ as well 
as the fp'irit againfl theftftj ; fo that, in many refpe(rts, we 
cannot do the things that we would (7) : and in proportion 
to the degree in which our nature is refined and bright- 
ened, we are more fenfible of the evil of thefe corrup- 
tions that remain within us ; {o that though we are not, 
in a ilrid propriety of fpeech, carnal and fold under fn^hvX 
do indeed delight in the law of God after the inward man (8), 
yet in the humility of our hearts we are often borrowing 

(i) Hab. ill, 2. (2) A(Si:s xl. ai. (3) Ifa. xliii. 6. 

(4) Ifa. liv. I. Gal iv. 'I'j, (5) Deiu- xxxii. 4. 

(6) I Cor. xiii. 9. (7) Gal v. 17. (8) Ronj.vil 14, 22- 



214 SERMON 5C; 

that pathetic complaint, Ohy wretched man that lam^ fwhn 
JJjall deliver me from the body of this d^ath ( I ) ! But let it be 
remembered, Chriflians, as the matter of your joy, that 
the ftruggle fhall not be perpetual, that it fhall not in- 
deed be long. Look up with pleafure then, and lift up 
your heads ; for your redemption draiveth nigh ( 2 ) : the time 
is approaching, when that which is perfeEt Jhall come^ and 
that which is in partjloall he done away ( 3 ). You are now 
the children of GOD ; but it does not appear to every eye 
that you are fo : the world knows us not (4), nor are we 
to wonder at it ; for even Chrifl our Lord was once un^ 
known^ and appeared in fo much meannefs, and fo much 
calamity, that an undifcerning and carnal eye could 
not have difcovered who and what he was. But there 
is a day appointed for the mamfeflation of the fans of 
GOD {^), as the Apoftle Paul moil happily expreffes 
it ; when he will manifeft them to each other, and 
manifeil: them alfo to the whole world. They ihall 
not always live thus at a diftance from their Father's 
houfe, and under thofe difpenfations of Providence 
that look fo much like difregard and negled : but he 
will take them home, and gather them to himfelf. Ere 
long, Chriflians, he will call thefe heaven-born fpirits of 
yours, that are now afpiring towards him, to^dwell in 
his immediate prefence : he will receive you to 'loimfelf ; 
and you fhall (land where no fmner fhall have a place in 
the congregation of the righteous (6), and fhall have an inher^ 
itance among the faints in lights the faints in holinefs and 
glory. — Oh happy day ! when dropping this body in 
the grave, we fhall afcend pure and joyful fpirits to that 
triumphant ailembly, where there is not one vitiated af- 
fedtion, not one foolifh thought to be found among the 
thoufands and ten thoufands of God's Ifrael ! Oh blefled 
period of a regenerate flate ! Though all the fchemes of 
the Divine love were to reft here, and thefe bodies were 
forever to be laid afide, and utterly to be loft in the grave ; 
the rejoicing foul might fay, " Lord, it is enough !" And 
it might be indeed enough for us ; but it is not enough 
to anfwer the gracious purpofes of God's paternal love. 

(i) Rom. Vii. 24. (2) Luke xxi. 28. (3) i Cor. xiii. io« 

(4) I jQhn iii. i, 2, (5) Rona. viii, 19. (6) Pfal. i. J. 



ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE. 215 

God will fhew, in the moft confpicuous manner, what a 
family he has raifed to himfelf among the children of 
;nien ; and therefore he will affemble them all in their 
complete perfons, and will do it with folemn pomp and 
magnificent parade. He will for this purpofe fend his 
own Son, with all his holy angels (i), and will caufe the 
bodies of millions of his children, that have long dwelt 
in the dull, to fpring out of it, at once in forms of beauty 
and luilre, worthy their relation to him. This therefore 
IS, with beautiful propriety, called by the Apoftle the 
adoption, even the redemption of our body (2) ; alluding to 
the public ceremony, with which adoptions among the 
ancients were folemnly confirmed and declared, after 
they had been more privately tranfadted between the 
parties immediately concerned. 

Oh, Chriftians, how reafonable is it that our fouls 
flioiild be rifmg with a fecret ardour towards this bleffed 
hope, this glorious abode 1- — It is pleafant for the chil- 
dren of God to meet and converfe with one another 
upon earth ; fo pleafant, that I wonder they do not more 
frequently form themfelves into little focieties, in which, 
mider that charader, they fliould join their difcourfes 
and their prayers. — It is delightful to addrefs to thofc 
that, we tf uft, through grace are born of God. No dit 
courfes are more pleafant than thofe that fuit them : and 
could we, that are die minifters of Chrift, reafonably 
hope, that we had none but fuch to attend our labours, we 
ihould joyfully confine our difcourfes to fuch fubjeds.— Yet 
while we are here, we fee imperfe<5lions in others, we feel 
them yet more painfully in ourfelves : and as there is no 
pure, unmixed fociety, no fellowdiip on earth that is com- 
pletely holy and without blemifh, fo there is now no pure 
delight, no perfe6l pleafure to be met with here. — Oh 
when fhall I depart from this mixed fociety, and reach 
that ftate where all is good, all glorious 1 where I fhall 
fee my heavenly Father, and ail my brethren in the 
Lord ; and fhall behold them all forever a(51:ing up to 
their chara<5ler ! All giving thanks to the Father, who has 
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the faints in 
light (3) ! All forever bleffing and ferving the great 

(i) Mat. XXV. 31. {%) Rom. viii. -aj, (3) Col. i. i*. 



2l6 5ERM0N X. 

Redeemer ; and without one ungenerous a^fiion, one re** 
fleding word, one fufpicious thought, forever ferving 
each other in love, rejoichig in each other's happinefs, 
and with the mod pruden^t and ftedfail application for* 
ever ftudying and labouring to improve it I 

V/ith the mcfl earned defire that you, my dear 
brethren and friends, may at length attain to this ftate 
of perfedtlon and glory ; and with a cheerful expedation, 
through Divine grace, that I fhall ere long meet many 
of you in it, I clofe this Sermon, and thefe Difcourfes ; 
not without a humble hope, that, when we arrive at 
this bleffed world, thefe hours, which we have fpent to- 
gether in the houfe of God, in attending them, will 
come into a pleafant remembrance ; and that the God 
of all grace, to whofe glory they are faithfully devoted, 
and to whofe bleffing they are humbly committed, will 
honour them as the means of increafmg his family, as 
well as of feeding and quickening thofe who are already 
his regenerate children I 



AM^N". 



THE 



SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE 



OF 



SALVATION 



BY 



GRACE THROUGH FAITH. 



SLLUSTRATSD AND IMPROVED IN 



TWO SERMONS. 



BT P. DODDRIDGE^ D. D. 



BOSTON : 

PRINTED BY E. LINCOLN, WATER-STREET. 



MAY, 1803. 



TO THE 
CHURCH AND CONGREGATION 

OF 

PROTESTANT DISSENTERS 

AT 

ROWELL ; 

To whom the Subftance of thefe Sermons was preacL- 
ed, and at whofe defire they ai'e publilhed. 

Af^ dear Brethren and Friends ^ 
beloved in our common Lordy 

WHEN I firft preached thefe plain fermons to my own congre- 
gation, which I here offer to your perufal, I was much fur^ 
prifed at the requeft which feveral of them made, that they might 
be printed : but I was yet more furprifed, when after having deliv- 
ered the fubftance of them in one difcourfe at Rowell fome time 
after, you fo unanimouily and afFecSlionately made that requeft 
your own. I apprehend, that though the many excellent treatifcs 
we have on this fubjedl already, might excufe my backwardnefs to 
comply with the iirO; motion of this kind ; yet abfolutely to have 
refufed your repeated folicitation, might have appeared difrefped:- 
ful to my good friends, and perhaps have looked like fome unwil- 
Hngnefs to bear my teftimony to this great and important doctrine. 
In an age in which the credit of many evangelical truths feems to 
Ue fallen very low. 

1 am really forry I have delayed this little fervice fo long; but it 
was chiefly owing to my defire of finifliing my fermons on Regen- 
eration, which indeed cofl me more labour than I at firft appre- 
hended. That feemed a bufinefs of fuch importance, that I knew 
not how to interrupt it : but as they are now almoft printed off, I 
fend out thefe difcourfes as a kind of fupplement to them; and 
therefore they are printed in a form very fit to bind up with them. 
The delay is more excufable, as salvation by grace is not a fub- 
je<Sl: which grows out of date in a few months. This glorious doc- 
trine has been the joy of the church in all ages on earth; and it 
will be the fong of all that have received it in truth throughout 
the ages of eternity, and be purfued in the heavenly regions with 
overcrowing admiration and delight. 



DEDICATION. 

J cannot conclude this fliort addrefs without congratulating jon 
fill tiie abundant goodnefs of God to you as a church, in bringing 
among you that worthy and excellent perfon*, under whofe paf- 
toral care you are now fo happily placed. I know he is a faithful 
witntls to the truths of the gofpel, and rejoice in that rich abun- 
dance of gifts and graces, which render him fo fit to Hate and im- 
prove them in the mofl advantageous, as well asmofl: agreeable and 
delightful manner. I hope and believe, that the grace he fo hum- 
bly owns his dependence upon, will add happy fuccefs- to his la- 
bours : and I heartily pray that you and neighbouring churches 
?nay long be happy in him ; and that God, who has, by fuch vari- 
ouii and gracious interpolitions in your favour, expreffed his patcr- 
jaal care of you, may ftill delight to dwell among you. May he 
multiply you wdth men like a flock, daily adding to his Church 
among you fuch as fliall be faved ! May your fouls continually re- 
joice in his falvation ! And may you ever walk worthy of the 
i^ord, and prove, by the Integrity and purity, the fpirituality and 
ufefulnefs of your whole behaviour, that this grace of God which 
brings falvation has entered with power into your hearts ; and that 
it is your care and delight to improve it, as well as to hear of it \ 
To contribute to this bleifed end, by this or any other attempt of 
cordial love and faithful refpetft, will be an unfpeakable pleafurc 
to. 



My dearfnendsi 

Tour very affe8ionaie feri)anfi 

In lie bonis of our common Lori^ 
KerthamptonjScpt i, 1741. 

P. Doddridge* 



The Rev. Mr. Jonathan Saunderfin^. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 



SERMON I. 



Ephes. II. 8. 

Par hy grace ye are faved through faith ; and that not 
of yourf elves ; it is the gift of God, 

YOU are often, my dear brethren and friends, hear- 
ing of the duties of a religious life ; and it cannot 
but be a pleafure to every faithful mlnifter of Chrirl to 
obferve, how willing, nay, how glad you are to hear of 
them ; and with refpe<fl: to many of you, how ready you 
are to pradife them. But I am now coming to you 
with a renewed admonition on another head, which is 
always to be taken in connexion with the former ; and 
which, I perfuade myfelf, will in that view be welcome 
to you all. I am to inculcate it upon you, that when 
you have done your utmoft, how much foever that be, 
you fhould llill fay, that you are unprojitalle fervants ( i ) ; 
and endeavour to maintain a deep fenfe of it upon your 
hearts, that, as the Apoftle adm.onifhes the believing 
Ephefians in the words of the text, By grace ye are favfj 
through faith ; and that not of you rf elves j it is the gift nf 
God, 

The Apoftle, in his preceding difconrfe, fpeaks of the 
happy change which the Gofpel had made in the ftate cf 
thefe poor heathens. He freely acknowledges, on this 
occafion, that the Jews were likewife in a very bad ftate, 

(i) Luke xvil. lo. 
T 2 



SliRMON I. 

and If not entirely funk into the fame enormities, yet tuerf 
hy Tiaiure children cf lurathy even as others ( I ). So that, on 
the whole, both were (as it might be exprefTed by ati 
eafy and very proper figure) dead in trefpajfes andfms (2), 
indifpofed for any religious fenfations and actions, and 
far more odious to God than a putrid carcafe is to men. 
But he adds, that God hy his grace had faved them ; that 
his unmerited goodnefs had begam their falvation, and 
having thus far carried it on, would undoubtedly com- 
plete it : and that he might imprefs their minds the 
more deeply with it, he repeats it again, By grace ye are 
faved. So m.uch was the apoille Paul concerned to in- 
culcF^te a dodlrine which fome are ready to look upon 
as unnecelTary, and others perhaps as dangerous. But 
the Apoftle's authority is abundantly enough to out- 
•tveigh all that can be laid In the appofite fcale. And it 
will appear from w^hat I have further to offer, that if it 
had not in this view^ fo direcl a fandllon from his exprefs 
teftlmony, the conclufion v/ould follow by the jufteft 
dedudlion of argument, from principles fo fundamental 
to the Gcfpel, that they cannot be denied without {nh- 
yerting Its whole fuperilrudure. 

And here, if I w^ould treat the fubjed in its full extent, 
I might confider w^hat we mean by gofpei falvation : but 
I content myfelf at prefent w^ith telling you, In a few 
Avords, that it implies " a deliverance from that ruinous 
and calamitous condition Into which, by otir apoftacy 
from God, we are fallen ;" and alfo includes " our being 
refiored to the Divine favour, and all the happy effects 
of it, as extending not only to time but to eternity." 

I might alfo confider at large the nature of that faith 
to which the prcmifes of falvation are made. But that 
is a fubje6t you have heard fo frequently explained, that 
I Ihall only remind you of that general account of it 
which has often been illuftrated among you. " Saving 
fiith,'^ for of that we are now fpeaking, " is fuch a per- 
fuafion, that ChrlR is the great Meffiah, the Son of God, 
and the Saviour of men ; and fuch a defire and expedla- 
tion of the bleffings he has procured under that char- 
a^fter -, as (hall engage us cheerfully to commit cur fouls 

(i) Eph. ii. I. (2) Yerfe i, J. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 7 

to him in his appointed method of falvation, with a dif- 
poiition cordially to devote ourfelves to his fervice in 
all the ways of holy and evangelical obedience." The 
feveral branches of this definition are to be taken in 
their connexion -with each other ; and then there would 
be no difficulty in fhewing, from the whole tenor of 
Scripture, that as nothing Ihort of this can be acceptable 
to God, fo wherever fuch a principle really is, the foul 
in which it is found is entitled to all the hkjjings of ths 
covenant of grace ^ and has all the fecurity for eternal hap- 
pinefs which the promife and oath of God can give. I 
might alfo eafily fhew you, that this is fuch a defcrip- 
tion of faith, as eiFedually fecures the intereft of prac- 
tical religion, and guards again ft every prefumptuous 
hope which may be formed in a foul deftitute of a prin- 
ciple of univerfal holinefs. 

But waving the further profecution of thefe prelimi- 
naries to our fubjed, which we have.occafion fo often to 
dilate upon, I fhaii make it my prefent buiinefs, 

I. To confider how v*^e may be faid to h^faved through 
faith* 

II. How it appears that, in confequence of this, we 
are faved by grace* 

III. I (hall examine the force of the Apoftle's addi- 
tional argument, v/hich is drawn from the coniideratloa, 
tlYdt faith is the gift of God. And then, 

IV. I fhall colled: fome inferences from the whole. 
And may God lurite on your hearts^ as <with a point of a 
diamond^ them and the premifes on which they are found- 
ed ! 

I. V\/'e are to confider in what fenfe it may be faid, that 
Chriftians 2Xt failed through faith » 

. Ye are, fays the Apoille [o-£cra-a-/,djvoi] the faved ones — 
the perfons who have already received the beginnings of 
falvation, and the certain pledge of its complete accom- 
plifhment" — \jioi. Ty<g ^7/^^:;^] through , or by means of faith. 

Now I apprehend we faall take in the full fenfe of 
the Apoitle's aiTertion, and of all that it is mod neceffa- 
ry to believe and know on this fubjefl: ; if v\' e acknowl- 
edge and remember—that faith is abfolutely necellary 



8 SERMON I. 

in order to our falvation, fo that we cannot poflibly be 
faved without it ; — and alfo, that every one who hath 
this faith fhall undoubtedly obtain falvation. — But yet, 
that after all, a Chriflian is not to afcribe his falvation 
to the merit of his 'faith, but entirely to that of the 
Lord Jefus Chrift, the great Author and Flniiher of it. 
Thefe are three very obvious remarks : none is fo w^eak 
but he may eafily underPtand them ; and yet I fpeak 
very ferioufly, when I fay, they feem to me to contain 
the fum of all that is mod important in the many large 
volumes which have been written on the fubjed:. 

I. "Faith is fo abfolutely neceffary to our falratioUj 
that we cannot poifibly be faved w^Ithout it/' 

So our Lord tells us, in the m.oft exprefs and emphat- 
ical forms of fpeech : If ye believe not that I am he^yeJJjall 
die In your fins ( i ) : which moil certainly implies the lofs 
of falvation, and indeed much more. And elfe where 
the incarnate wifdom and truth of God faith, He that he- 
lievsth ?iQt, fhall he damned (2). He fhall nct^ as the Bap- 
tift fays,/-^ ^{/^ (3) • Nay, as our Lord himfelf expreffes 
it in the ftrongeil terms, He that helteveih not^ Is condemned 
nJready ; not only on account of all thofe other fins, for 
which ihe wrath of Gody to which he became immediately 
obnoxious, ftill ahideth upon him ; but for this additional 
reafon of dreadful provocation, hecaufe he hath not belie'ved 
hi the venerable and majeftic name of the only begotten Son of 
God (4). 

Without this faith there is no knowledge that will 
fave a man, though it lliould be the mod various, and 
the moft exa6t knowledge of the mod divine and im- 
portant fubjedls Vv'hich ever entered into a human mind. 
So far is it from this, that one need not f:ruple to fay, 
a man might as reafonably exped to be faved by {kill 
in the mathem,atics, or in mufic, as by fkill In polemical 
divinity, though it vv^ere in its moft effential branches, 
if, after all, it were no more than mere fpeculation. 

And it Is no lefs certain, that without this faith, mo- 
rality will not fave a man^ be it ever fo unexceptionable, 
be it ever fo exemplary. This is indeed much better 

(i) John viij. 24. (a) Markxvl 16, (3) John iii. 36* 
(4) Verfe 18. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 9 

than the former ; but if there be nothing more, it will 
be fatally inefFedual to the great purpofe which we have 
now in view. I fpeak not now, as you may eafily ima- 
gine, of fuch a continual and uniform obedience to the 
Divine will, as perfedly ^nfwers the demands of God's 
original law ; for no man ever has attained to this, or 
will ever, in fad, attain to it in this world : but I fpeak 
of what the world generally calls morality, a freedom 
from grofs impiety and fcandalous vice, yea, though at- 
tended- with the pra6lice of the humane and focial vir- 
tues. This is indeed amiable and honourable fo far as 
it goes ; and will undoubtedly have its reward, in the 
pleafure of fach a condudl, in the efteem and love of 
mankind, and in the pofTellion of many temporal advan- 
tages and bleffings, which in the common courfe of 
Providence are connected with it. But alas it is, after 
all, a very partial and imperfe<5l thing : and as a m.an 
may be temperate in himfelf ; juil, faithful, and benev- 
olent to men ; without having any appearance of relig- 
ion towards God, or making any pretence to it ; fo he 
may have fome fenfe of God upon his fpirit, which one 
would think none but an Atheifk could entirely avoid, 
while for the negled, or it may be the rejedion of the 
Gofpel, he ftands expofed to itsfentence of condemnation. 
If Chrift be not rc^:^rd?d as the rock on which we build 
our hopes, the foundation is fandy, aud 7;ill b? ruinous ; 
and if we do not receive Chrift by fuch a faith as I de* 
fcribed above, we oiFer him a moft infolent affront, by 
pretending to put our unfan(5tified and rebellious hearts 
under his patronage. 

We fee then, that without this faith we cannot poflibly 
be faved. It is the counterpart of this important truths 
which we now add, when we obferve, 

2. That *^ every one who hath this faith fiiall un- 
doubted be faved,'' 

You will here be fure to obferve, that I fay, " Every 
one who hath this faith," meaning the faith defcribed 
above ; which includes in it our devoting ourfelves to 
Chrift in the way of holy obedience, as an eiTential part 
of it ; and confequently there can be no reafon to fay, as 
fome have wildly reprefented the matter^ " A believer 



TO SERMON f. 

fhall be faved, let him live as he will ;" which is eitlieJ^ 
a moft notorious and mifchievous falfehood, or an ex- 
prefs contradi(5Lion in terms. If tlie word believer b« 
fuppofed to fignify one who merely affents to the truth 
of the Gofpel in fpeculation, nothing can be more falfe, 
and the whole Epiftle of James, to omit a thoufand par- 
ticular pailages of other Scriptures, is a demonftration 
of the contrary : but if it be meant, as 1 fuppofe it gener- 
ally is, of a true believer, it is an exprefs contradidion ;. 
and is as abfurd as it would be to fay a really good man 
fhould be faved, though he fliould at the fame time be a 
very bad one. For no one can, in the fenfe defcribed 
above, which is the fcriptural fenfe, be a true believer, 
but one who wills to live in a holy manner ; fmce the 
fame operation of God upon the foul, which difpofes it 
to believe, fandities the will, and though freely, yet 
efFeduaily leads it into a prevailing determination, to 
make the fervice of God the bufmefs of life : or, in other 
words, it Is plain from the whole tenor of Scripture, that 
a faving is alfo a fandlifying faith ; but there cannot be 
a fancflifying faith in an unholy heart ; neither can there 
be a holy heart, where tli^re is a wicked life ; for t^e 
tree is known hy iu fruits (i) : and when we fpeak of the 
heart, we mean not merely the affedtions, but the will,, 
the determinations of which are indeed the very adions 
of which we fpeak, {o far as they are properly ours. 
There cannot, therefore, be a more infolent falfehood, 
than the pretence to holinefs of heart, where that of the 
life is wanting ;' or to laving faith in the abfence of both. 
There may indeed be an error in the underftanding as 
to feme precepts of Chrift, or a falfe judgmient as to 
fome circumftance attending ourfelves ; and that may 
produce feme error in pradice : there may be inftances 
in which the infirmity of human nature, and the fur- 
prife or force of a temptation, may betray a man into 
particular mifcarriages, contrary to the general bent 
and tenor of his heart and life : but there cannot poffi- 
bly be, in the condudl of any true believer, an habitual, 
allowed, and cuftomary difobedience to any one com- 
mandment of our blefied Redeemer. 

(i) Luke yI. 44. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. II 

This you muft firft admit as a neceffary preliminary 5 
and when it is admitted, you may very fecurely build 
upon it this great truth, that " whofoever hath fuch a 
faith as this, fhall certainly be faved.'' Whatever his 
former guilt may have been, though ever fo various, 
ever fo long continued, ever fo aggravated; though 
crimes had been committed from which he could never 
Imve been jujlified by the law of Mofes ( i ), but would have 
been doomed by it to an infamous death without mercy (2 ) : 
yet, on exerting fuch an a6l of faith in Chrift, the be- 
liever immediately ftands a juftified perfon before God, 
previous to any good works of his own : y^a, though 
he fliould die before he have an opportunity of per*- 
forming any, in this cafe (which, if ever it happen, is, 
by the way, the only cafe in which good works are not, 
according to the Gofpel covenant, neceffary to an actual 
admiffion into heaven) an omnifcient God calls the things 
that are not as if they were (3), and accepts thofe fruits of 
holinefs which he difcerned in their root or their bud, 
though he did not afford time for their coming to matu- 
rity. And if life be fpared, the believer continuing fuch, 
continues in a ftate of favour and acceptance with God, 
though there may be remaining imperfedlions in him ; 
and though he may fee reafon to complain, that he can- 
not do the things ii^hich he toould^ but that the la^o m his 
members ftruggles againfl the law of his mind (4), yet he 
Ihall finally be faved, whatever difficulties are to be 
broken through, and how long foever his trials may 
continue : and his falvation, as a believer, is as certain, 
from the whole current of the word of God, as the con- 
demnation of the unbeliever, which we proved above. 
He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlajling life ( 5 ) ; 
he hath it already in its beginnings and earnefts, and he 
fhall, ere long, rife to the complete poiTeffion of it. For 
Chrijl gives unto his Jheep eternal life^ and they Jh all never per^ 
yid^ neither fhall any pluck them out of his hand (6). But it 
is of importance that I add, 

3. That "after all a believer is not to afcribe his fal- 
vation to the merit and excellency of this faith itfelf, but 

(i) Acftsxlu. 39. (z) Heb. x. a8. (3) Rom. iv. 17. 
(4) Rom, vii. »j. (j) John iii. 36. (6) John x. aS. 



12 SERMON I. 

entirely to the merit and righteoufnefs of the Lord Jefiis 
Chrift, and the free grace of God, as manifefted in it." 

We know it is the conftant dodlrine of the New Tefta- 
nient, that God hath made us accepted in the belo'ved ( i ) ; 
and that of him ive are in Chrifl Jefus^ who of God is made 
unto us ivifdom^ and righteoifnefs^ andfanBijication^ andredemp" 
tion ( 2 ) : fo that we are jvjitfied freely by his grace through 
the redemption that is in him (3). And if we fhould pre- 
tend to fay that we are accepted of God for faith, as tlie 
meritorious caufe of that acceptance, we muft contradict 
the whole courfe of the Apoille Paul's argument, ef- 
peciaily in the fourth chapter of his Epiftle to the Ro- 
mans, where he ftrongly contends that Ahraham <was not 
jujiified by 'works ^ becaufe if he were, he <wouId ha've fome^ 
thing to glory in before God (4). Now if he had been 
jujiifiedby faith ^zshks own rntYxtorio^x^ a6t, there would 
have been as much room for him to have gloried in that, 
as in any work, whether ceremonial or moral obedience. 
And in the fame Epiftle he declares again, where he is 
fpeaking of the falvation of God's chofen remnant, that 
if it be of ivorks, then it is no more grace ; oihernvife nuorh is 
no more work (5) ; the meaning of v^^hich plainly is, that 
no man can at once be juftified by grace, and by works : 
and on the fame principles we may alfo fay, no man can 
be juftified by the merit of faith, and yet by grace. If 
therefore it evidently appear from tlie text, and out* far- 
ther reafoning upon it, that our juftification and accept- 
ance with God is to be afcribed to grace, all pretence of 
merit in the acl of believing muft of courfe be given up. 

This will indeed farther appear, if we confider what it 
is that faith does in order to our being juftified. You 
very well know it is reprefented in Scripture as re- 
ceiving Chrift. To as many as received him^ to them gave 
^he power (or privilege) to become the fons of God, even t0 
them that believe on his name (6). Now it muft be flag- 
rantly abfurd to talk of refting upon an ad, whereby we 
do indeed receive and reft upon another. And there- 
fore, however inaccurately fome may have expreffed 
themifelves on this head, 1 cannot fuppofe that any wife 

(i) Eph. i. 6. (a) I Cor. i. 30. (3) Rom. iii. 24- 

(4) Rom. iv, z. (5) Rom. xi. 6. (6) John 2. la. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. -I^ 

and considerate Chriftlan ever meant to aiTert the con- 
trary to what I am now endeavouring to prove. We 
do Indeed find the Apoftle fpeaking oifatlh as imputed 
for rlghieoufnefs (i) : but it feems to me, that the mcfl 
natural fenfe of that expreffion may be fixed, and the pro- 
priety of it may be admitted, upon the principles I have 
now been laying down. 

All manner of imputation feems to be a metaphor, 
taken from books of account between creditor and debt- 
or.* To impute any adt of fm, or of obedience, is there;- 
fore properly no other than to fet it down to his ac- 
count ; the great God of heaven and earth is reprefent- 
cd in Scripture, with humble condefcenfion to our man- 
ner of acting and conceiving of things, as keeping a moft 
exacl book of records and accounts, in which thofe things 
are regiilered concerning every one of us, which he will 
bring into that final review and furvey by vvhich our 
characters and ftates (hall finally be determined. And 
as the moft exadl and perfed obedience is a debt which 
we owe him, as our gr^at Creator, Benefadtor, and Gov- 
ernor ; fo on the breach of his law we owe him fome 
proper fatisfaclion for it. In this view v^e are all charg- 
ed as debtors, poor, miferable, infolvent debtors, in the 
book of God : mnumerable fins are imputed, or fet down 
to our account ; ' and were things to go on in this 
courfe, we fhould, ere long, be arretted by the Divine 
juPdce ; and being found incapable of payment, fhould 
'be caft into the prifon of hell, to come out no more. 
But God, in pity to this our calamitous ftate, has found 
out a furety and a ranfom for us, and has provided a 
fatisfadllon in the obedience and fufi'erings of his Son ; 
which is what we mean by the righteoufnefs of Chrift ; 
or his adlive and paffive obedience. It is with a gracious 
regard to this, to exprefs his high complacency in it, and 
(if I may fo fpeak) his pleafing remembrance of it, that 

(i) P.om. iv. 22. 

* From mercantile affairs the metaphor is fometimes applied to 
judicial ; as crimes to be accounted for are alfo fomelimes call- 
ed debts; but v/hen the matter is well underlloodin one view, it 
is eafy to apply it to the other. 

u 



14 SERMON I. 

all who are finally juftlfied and faved, meet with Divine 
acceptance and favour ; or to purfue the metaphor open- 
ed above, the righteovfnefs of Chrlft is, in the book of God, 
imputed or fet down to their account as that by which 
the debt is balanced, and they are entitled to fuch fa- 
vours as righteous perfons might expedl from God. But 
then, it is an invariable rule in the Divine proceedings, 
that this righteoufnefs, or this atonement and fatisfadion 
of Chrift (for I think it matters but little by which of 
thefe names it fball be called) be a mea.ns of delivering 
thofe, and only thofe, that believe. Purfuant, therefore, 
to the aforefaid metaphor, when any particular perfon be- 
lieves, this is fet down to his account, as a moii import- 
ant article, or as a memorandum (if I may fo exprefs it) 
in the book of God's remembrance, that fuch an one is 
now adually become a believer, and tlierefore is now en- 
titled to juftification and life by Chrift. In this fenfe 
his faith is imputed for righteoufnefs. Yet it is not re- 
garded by God as the grand confederation which bal- 
ances the account, or indeed as paying any of the former 
debt, v/hich it is impofTible it ihould; but only as that 
which, according to the gracious conftitutlon of the Gof- 
pel, gives a man a claim to that which Chrift has paid, 
and which God hag gracioufly allowed as a valuable 
confideration, in regard to which he may honourably 
pardon and accept all who fiiall apply to him in his ap- 
pointed way, or in the v/ay of humble believing, as faith 
was defcribed above. 

This appears to me a juft and eafy view of the gofpel 
dodtrine on this head ; and it is fo important diftindly 
to underftand it, that I hope you will excufe my having 
reprefented it in fo many w^ords. And this is, on the 
whole, the fenfe in w^hich vie may be faid to be faved 
through faith. None can be faved without it : — and 
every one who has it, is entitled to falvation ; but not in 
virtue of the merit and excellency of faith itfelf, but 
entirely for the fake of w^hat Chrift has done and fuffered ; 
or, in other words, by the imputation of his perfedl 
righteoufnefs, the met it of which is gracioufly applied to 
this or that particular perfon upon his believing : fo that 
upon this he is juftified ; and by the general tenor of tl^e 
Gofpel, is to be looked on as a righteous perfon ; or as 



SALVATION BY GRACE. I5 

one who fhall, on the whole, be treated as fuch^ and fiiall, 
^re long, be publicly declared righteous before the af- 
fembled world, and be freed from all the remainders of 
that penalty which fm has brought upon us : and though, 
for wife and good reafons, he be for a while continued 
under fome of them, the time of that continuance is fo 
Ihort, and his fucceeding happinefs fo lading, that the 
former being, as it were, fwallowed up by the latter in 
the all-comprehending views of God, he is fpoken of by 
him as if ihis juftification and filvation were already- 
complete. Te are faved ihrough faith.— ^xxth'xving ftated 
this, the method I propofed leads me, 

II. To fhew, that in confequence of our being thus 
faved through faith y we may properly be faid to hcfavcd 
hy grace. 

Now the connexion between thefe will appear very 
evident ; if we confider, that faith cannot make any 
atonement to the offended juftice of God, fo as to give 
us any legal claim even to the pardon of our iins upon 
the account of it : — much lefs can it confer any obliga- 
tion upon God to beRow on us eternal blelfednefs : — nor 
would there indeed have been any room to mention faith 
in this whole affair, if God had not contrived fuch a 
method of falvation, and done that to eiFed it, which 
none but himfelf could have done. 

I. " Faith cannot make any atonement to the offend- 
ed juftice of God, fo as to give us any legal claim even 
to the pardon of our fms upon the account of it ;" fo 
that if we are faved through faith ^ we muft, in this view, 
acknowledge it to be hy grace, 

^ The law of fo wife, fo great, and fo venerable a Sov- 
ereign as the bleffed God is, muft of courfe fuppofe fome 
awful fanclions, fome folemn denunciations of wrath and 
vengeance on thofe who prefumptuoufly tranfgrefs it. 
And it is certainly the part of God, as a wife, holy, and 
gracious legiilator, to maintain its honour when it has 
been violated ; and not to treat an offending creature as 
innocent and righteous, without fome provifion made 
for the fatisfadion of his injured juftice : in the demand 
of which fatisfadion God does not exprefs any thing of 



l6 S1ERMON I. 

a fangulnary and revengeful difpofition : far be fo blaf- 
phemous a thought from us ! But he difplays a fteady 
regard to that order, which, as the Great Sovereign, it 
becomes him, for the benefit of his fubjeds, as well as 
for the glory of his own name and government, to pre- 
f^rve in the moral world, i. e. am.ong his reafonable 
creatures. Some ample and honourable amends muft 
therefore be made in order to the difcharge of a guilty 
-and condemjued criminal. And is faith fuch an amends ? 
Take it in its utmoft extent, as an affent to whatever he 
propofes, and a fubmiffion to whatever he demands, to 
the very utmoft of our capacity ; this, in our prefent cir- 
cumfiances, is but our duty, and v/ould have been fo, 
had we never offended him : and the performance of it, 
with whatever readinefs, exadtnefs, and ccnftancy, can- 
not poffibly atone for the violation of it in times pail ; 
as the payment of what, for the future, becomics due to 
any creditor, cannot difcharge a debt formerly contraxfl- 
ed, and remaining unbahmced upon account : therefore 
it is, th-it vre read of ChrjjPs being iruide a fin-offertng for usy 
thovgh he hinifelf }:n£nv no ^fin^ that tve might he made the 
fight eotifnefs cf God In him ( f ) ; i. e. that we might be ac- 
cepted of God as righteous, being confidered as, by 
faith, united to him^ and interefted in his righteoufnefs 
and gnice. In teftimony of which, God exprefsly re- 
quires that every finner fhould fue out his pardon in 
Chrijl^s nafne (2) : and fhould prefent him.felf before him 
as one that has obtained redemption through Chr'ijVs lloodf 
and is accepted in the heloT<ed (3), ivho of God is made unto 
us righteoufnefs {4) : a fcheme utterly inconfiftent with 
tJiat of our being juftified and faved by any merit or ex- 
cellence in faith, confidered as an adl of atonem.ent made 
by us, by u'^hich the guilt of our offences is cancelled, 
and our pardon bought by us. It is yet more apparent, 

2. That "faith can confer no obligation upon God to 
beftow on us eternal bleffednefs ;" in which view alfo our 
falvation through it muft appear to be by grace. 

That eternal bleffednefs is defigned for every believing 
foul, is, through the Divine goodnefs, as apparent, as that 

(i) % Cor. v. ai. {^) I^uke xxiv. 47. (3) Eph. i. 6,7. 
(4) I Ccr. i. 30. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 1/ 

faith itfelf is ever required in Scripture. But can we 
fay of eternal life, that it is the wages of faith ? I much 
queftion whether it could have been claimed as wages 
due to us on account of our obedience, had that obedi- 
ence been perfedt in its kind and degree : nor do I think 
it could, with any confidence, have been expeded, unlefs 
God had been pleafed, by a gracious covenant, to prom- 
ife it : otherwife, all that the completed obedience 
could have claimed, would only have been favour con- 
tinued, or at moll favour increafmg, during the time in 
which we continued to behave ourfelves well. Much 
lefs then can we imagine, that when we had once.broken 
the law of God, faith, though for the future attended 
with the moft perfect efficacy, and produdive of the 
mofl: fteady courfe of obedience in all after inftances, 
could give us any fiich claim. Lead of all then can 
we have any room to pretend it, on account of a faith 
which operates in fo imperfed: a manner, and pro- 
duces an holinefs fo fadly defed:ive in many inftances, as 
we muft acknowledge our own to be. That we fhould 
be admitted into the glorious prefence of God, and be 
fixed in a ftate of immutable fecurity and felicity, where 
fin and forrow fhall no more invade us, but where God 
will appoint for us falvation itfelfy^r walls and bulwarks ( i ), 
is fo glorious a triumph of the Divine goodnefs, that the 
foul which knows itfelf, and attentively looks on this/^r 
more exceeding and eternal mjelght of glory, is aftcnifhed and 
humbled in the views of it, and finds it no fmall ftretch 
of faith, to be able to believe, that God dees indeed in- 
tend It for fo finful a creature : fo far is the believer 
from arrogating any thing of this kind to himfelf, as if 
his own faith had any degree of merit or excellence pro- 
portionable to it. But we mull obferve once more, to 
complete the argument, 

3. That " there had been no room to mention faith 
at all in this affair, had not God gracioufly contrived 
fuch a method of falvation, and done that to eifecfl it, 
which none but himfelf could do.*' 

Faith receives our Lord Jefus Chrift ; it is its great 
office, audits great glory to do it. But how could it 

(i) Ifa. sxvl I, 



iS ' SERMON I. 

have received him, unlefs he had h^Qn given ? and how" 
could he have been given in this view, but by the ap- 
pointment of the Father, in concurrence v^dth his owi* 
free and moil gracious confent ? — Faith apprehends and 
lubmiis to the gofpel plan of falvation b)' the obedience 
and faif erings of the Son of God ; yea, it not only fub-^ 
mits to it, but rejoices and glories in it. But v/ho could 
have exhibited, who could have contrived, who could 
have executed fuch a plan, unlefs it had been formed and 
determined in the counfels of eternal love ?— Admit 
faith to be ever fo voluntary, and, fo far as is poflible to 
a creature, ever fo independent an ad, can we any of us 
fay, that there was fo niucli merit and excellency in that 
adi, or in any of its fubfequent fruits, that God upon the 
forcf ght of it would fay, ^' Thefe creatures, guilty and 
condemned as they appear, will be fo ready to receive" 
the intimations of my will, that they will fidly deferve 
that I fiiculd ilive them at any rate ; they will deferve 
even that m.y Son fnould become incarnate, and die as a 
facriiice, to m.ake v/ay for their happinefs." Can any of 
you, Sirs, imagine this to have been the cafe ? Or can 
you hear it even fuppofed, without finding foniething 
fhocking in the very reprefentation of it? The blefled 
Paul, I am fure, had very differ en t views v/hen he faid, 
God hath prcckjihiatcd tis to the adoption c/f children by Jefui 
Chrlfl tuito himfclf^ according to the good plcafure of his ivilly 
to the pralfe cf ihe.glor'^: cf hh grace^ ^luherem he hath made vs 
accepted in the leh^cd {i). And the Apoftle John had 
other notions of it, when he faid, full as his graciouiS 
heart v/as of the moil lively fentiments of gratitude and' 
zeal, Herein is love^ not that vje Ic-jed God^ hut that he loved 
Uiy and fcnthis Son to he the prcplilationfor our fins (2). 

Thefe arguments VN^ould prove, that our falvatiod 
through faith is by grace, even though it could not be 
added, that this filth Is the gift of God. How much mere 
convincing then muil the concluilon be, when that con- 
fideration is added to the reft ! 

But as the illuftration of this, which was the third 
general we mentioned, will require more time than can 
properly be allowed to the remainder of this Difcourfe, 

(i) Eph. i. 5, 6, (a) I John iv. 10. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. I9 

I will referve it to another ; and conclude for the prefenc 
with exhorting you ieriouily to examine, whether you 
have this principle of faith in your hearts, without which 
your falvation is, in prefent circumftances, an impoffibie 
thing, and with which it is inviolably fecitre. 

It is a melancholy, but mod obvious truth, that all 
men have not faith ( i ). There are thoufands and ten 
thoufands under the Gofpel, with regard to whom its 
miniders have reafon to complain, Pi^ho hath believed our 
report^ and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been reveaU 
ed {2) ^ On whom has its power been fo exerted, as to 
conquer the natural incredulity and obftinacy of their 
hearts ? Are you, Sirs, of that number, or of the number 
of thofe who, as the Scripture expreffes it, have believed 
through grace (3) ? It is the quellion on v/hich your eter- 
nal Hate v/ill turn at laft : and therefore you would do 
well to examine it now. And I would befeech you to 
endeavour to trace it, in its produBlon, and in \X.^ effeds ; 
or, in other words, to inquire — how it has been introdu- 
ced into your minds and how it has wrou^^ht there^ 

You may furely difcover it, in the one or in tbe other, 
if it be your prevailing charader ; and I hope many of 
you will be able to difcover it in both. 

c (i.) Can you trace faith "in its produdion and ad- 
rance in your fouls V' 

Do you recoiled any time in which you had no 
thoughts of the Lord Jefus Chrift, and no workings of 
aiFe(5tion towards him ? And has there been any altera- 
tion in your minds in this refpedl ? All true faith in 
Chrift is founded on a conviction of fm, and of the mifery 
to which you are expofed by it. Have you indeed been 
brought to this convidlion ? Have you heard, and (if I 
may be allowed the expreflion) have you felt yourfelves 
condemned by the fentence of a righteous, a holy, yea, of 
a merciful God ? And have you, by that apprehenficn, 
been ftirred up to cry for pardon and deliverance ? You 
have heard of Chrift under the characTier of a Saviour ; 
but I put it to your confciences, have you ferioufiy view- 
ed him under that charader \ and from a full perfuaficn 

(i) a Their, iii. %, (a) Ifa. liii, i. (3) A^s xvitl, '^7, 



20 SERMON I. 

of his correfpondency, when confidered in this view, to 
all the necefTities of your cafe, and all the exigencies of 
your fouls, have you entered into any treaty with him ? 
Recollecl: it ferioufly. Have you ever prefented your- 
felves before God, with an humble and cordial regard 
to Chrift ? And do you know what it is fecretly and iin- 
cerely to repofe your fouls upon the merit of his obedi- 
ence, and the efficacy ©f his blood, w4th humble ac- 
knowledgment of youi own guilt, with entire refignation 
of your own righteoufnefs, as utterly unworthy of being. 
mentioned before God, and with a cordial and joyful ref- 
olution to devote yourfelves to his fervice as long as you 
have any being, and through time and eternity to teftify 
your gratitude by a conftant feries of obedience ? 

If you can trace fuch a procefs of thought and expe- 
rience as this, you have great reafon to conclude,^ that 
you experimentally know Vv'hat faith is ', and that 
through faith you are in the way to falvation. Yet it is 
always to be remembered, that faith is to h^Jhe^ivn by its 
works (i ). Give me leave, tlierefore, farther to inquire, 

( 2, ) Whether you can trace " the genuine effe(5ts of 
It in your hearts and lives V 

You believe in Chrl/l : but has that faith in him produ- 
ced a continual and habitual intercourfe with him ? I 
fpeak not of an intercourfe abfolutely uninterrupted 5 for 
that the prefent ft ate of human life will not admit. But 
has it produced frequently repeated and direft ad:s of ap- 
plication to him, and converfe with him r One can hard- 
ly imagine how it is poilible for a true believer to fuffer 
thefe to be long, and often intermitted : efpecially to 
fuch a degree, that days and weeks and m.onths fhculd 
pafs, as if all the bufinefs between Chrift and his foul 
were quite finifhed, and he and his Lord were parted by 
confent, till death, or fome very urgent and extraordi- 
nary circumftance, renewed the interviews between 
them. — I would afk farther. Has this faith, to which you 
pretendj produced a refemblance to Chriit's example, and 
an obedience to his precepts, in tlie ccurfe of your lives ? 
You know that true faith is operative ; and you know, in 
the general, the genius and defigu of Chriilianity. I 

(i) Jam, ii. 18; 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 2t 

would demand of your corxfclences how far you comply 
With it ? Is your temper and condudt in the m.ain fuch 
as you well know our Lord intended, that the temper 
and conduft of his people fliould be ? Is it devout and 
fpiritual, juft and charitable, fober and temperate, hum- 
ble and cautious ? Is religion your care, and do you 
maintain an habitual watchfulnefs over yourfelves, that 
your behaviour may be agreeable and honourable to 

your profeffion ? Once more, Are you ardently pur- 

fuing greater attainments in the Chriftian temxper and 
life, fo that you may be fpoken of as hungering and thirji' 
ing after right eoufnejs ( l ) ? 

If you can anfwer fuch incjuiries as thefe in the affirm- 
ative, you have a great deal of reafon to hope that faith 
IS yours, and falvation is yours- But if you cannot fo 
anfwer them, a confident afrurance that you fhall be fav- 
cd, is fo far from being foith, that it is prefum.ption and 
folly ; and fo far from being any fecurity to you, will only 
prove adding fin to fin. That confidence, by whatever 
name you may affed to call it, is indeed unbelief; unbe- 
lief of God's threatenings, while it vainly pretends to 
truft his promifes : For he hath not more exprefsly faid, 
that he <who helieveth on the Son, hath everJaJling life ; than 
he has added, that he who is dif obedient to the Son^^fhall not 
fee life (2). While fm reigns in your life, and thereby 
appears to reign in your heart, did you pretend a revela- 
tion from Heaven as to the truth of your faith, every wife 
man would conclude that pretended revelation was a de- 
luiion ; and that how folemnly foever it might be afcrib- 
cd to the Spirit of truth and holinefs, it really proceeded 
from the father of lies. 

Excufe the plainnefs with which fidelity to God, and 
to you, obHges me to fpeak on this head ; and be affured, 
that it proceeds from a real concern to fecurethe honour 
of that glorious doclrine of Salvation by Grace, which 
I have now been labouring to eftabliPn, and the demon- 
ftration and improvement of v/hich I ihail farther purfue 
in the enfuing Difcourfe. 

(i) Matt, v. 6. * Oa-csu^iii TO u<av ('i) JohnJii. 36, 



SERMON IL 



FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD. 



Ephes. II. 8. 

For hy grace yc arc faved through faith / and that nof 
of yourfelves ; it is the gft of God* 

IN the works of nature, many of thofe things, which tc 
a fuperiicial eye may appear as defeds, will on a care- 
ful inquiry be found to be mar]<jS of confummate wifdom, 
and khid contrivance. And on the fame principle, I con- 
fefs, I have often thought there is reafon to be thankful 
for the very inaccuracies of Scripture. The hade in' 
which the Apoftle Paul VN^as, by the multiplicity of his 
aifairs, obliged to write, has given us an opportunity of 
viewing more of his heart in his epiitles, than we might 
perhaps have feen if he had frequently reviewed and cor- 
reded them. Thofe parenthefes in particular, and thofe 
repetitions, which render the ftyle lefs elegant, and the 
fenfe fometimes lefs confpicuous, do neverthelefs fhew to 
greater advantage, how deeply thofe thoughts were im- 
preffed upon his mind which he introduces in fuch a man- 
ner. And of this the words which I have now been 
reading are an inftance. In the courfe of his preceding 
argument, a few verfes before, while he is telling the 
Ephefians, that God^ ^ho is rich in mercy^for his great lo've 
nvhereivith he loved them^ even nvhen they were dead in fins y had 
quickened them together with Chrifl ; he adds, by way of 
parenthefis, By grace ye are faved (i) : and when he goes 

(i) Eph. ii. 4. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 2^ 

son to fay, they were rajfed itp together, and made to Jit together 
in heavenly places in Chr'ijl Jefus, he further tells them, that 
this was with an intention, that in the ages to come God might 
Jhew the exceeding riches of his grace^ in his klndnefs towards 
us, through Jejus Chrljl ( I ) : nay, his heart was fo full of 
the fubjed of grace, free and aftonifhing grace, that as if 
all this was not enough, by a moft glorious and edifying 
tautology, (if I may be allowed fo to fpeak) he inferts 
the words of my text, By grace are yefaved through faith ; 
and that not of yourf elves ; it is the gift of God. 

I have already lliewn you, from thefe words, in what 
fenfe we may be faid to be faved through faith :— -and 1 
have alfo proved, that in confequence of this it is evident 
we muft be faved by grace ; fince faith being incapable 
of fatisfying the demands of God's injured juftice, can 
much lefs merit fuch a recompence as eternal life ; nor 
can it indeed have any efficacy, or any place at all in this 
affair, otlierwife than by God's free conftitution and gra- 
cious appointment. — I then concluded with obferving, 
that this argument would have a convincing force, even 
though faith were ever fo entirely an a6l of our own ; or 
that we had no more fupport or adiftance from God in 
forming and exerting it, than we have in any of the com- 
mon anions of natural life. But I am now to fhew, that 
even this is not the cafe ; but that a new proof of cur 
hQing faved hy grace arifes from confidering, 

III. The argument which the Apoftle fuggefts in the 
clofe of the text, that even this faith is not of ourflves } 
-but /'/ Is the gift of God, 

I am fenfible that fome endeavour to invalidate and 
fuperfede all this part of the argument, by giving ano- 
ther turn to this lall claufe, referring it in general to our 
falvation by faith, as if it had been faid, " Our being thus 
faved hy grace through faith (as I have jufl: now faid) is 
not of ourf elves y but it Is the gift of God,'^ But I appre- 
hend thafan impartial reader would not be willing to al- 
low of this interpretation ; v/hich makes the latter claufe 
a mere repetition of what was faid before, and a I'epetl- 
tion of it in lefs proper and expreffive words. None 

(i) Eph.ii. 6, 7, 



^4 tSERMON II. 

could imagine, that our being faved through faith was 
of ourfelves ; or that we ever could ourfelves conftitute 
and appoint fuch a way of falvation, which was indeed 
fixed fo long before we had a being. But faith being 
really our own a6l, it was highly pertinent to obferve, 
that the excellency of this adl is not to be arrogated to 
ourfelves, but is to be afcribed to God. All that are ac- 
quainted v^ith the genius of the original muft acknowl- 
edge this is a conftrudlion which it will very fairly ad- 
mit. And we fhall prove, in the procefs of this argu- 
inent, that other Scriptures exprefsly declare the truth, 
which this interpretation makes to be the meaning of the 
words. 

Faith may be called the gift of God^ as it'is God that 
reveals the great objects of faith — that brings the mind 
to attend to them — that conquers our natural averfion 
to the gofpel method of falvation, and fo implants faith 
in the foul ; — And alfo as it is he that carries it on to more 
perfed degrees, and improves its vigour and adlivity. 

I. Faith may be called the gift of Gcdy " as it is God 
who reveals the great ol)jcds of faith,'' 

Human reafon is but weak and imperfe(5l, and has in- 
deed interwoven the traces of its ov/n weaknefs with 
many of the faireft monuments of its ftrength. Even in 
its moft advanced flate, among the mod learned and 
polite nations of antiquity, it is deplorably evident how 
fa.r it w^as from difcovering the feveral branches of nat- 
ural religion in its purity- extent, and order. And to 
fpeak freely, it (hone more brightly in almoft every other 
view than in that Vv^iich is its nobleft end : I macan what 
relates to God and immortality. It has indeed produc- 
ed many admirable poems, and compofed many moving 
orations : it has woven many exquifite threads of argu- 
ment, with wdiich the fubtiletl difputants have entangled 
each other, and have often entangled themfelves : and 
much more ufe ful it has been, in adorning the face of the 
earth, in fubduing the fea, in managing the v/inds, and 
meeting out the heavens. But this rich vein of knowl- 
edge, this m.hie of holy and divine treafure, lies too deep 
for human difcovery. — If any afl;:, JVherc /Jjall this wf 



SALVATION BY GRACE. SJ 

tiom be found, and cohere h the place of this underflanding ( i ) ? 
It muft be granted, that it is a path, nvhkh the ^ vulture's 
eye hath not feen (2) : man hnoweth not the price thereof 
neither Is it found in the land of the living. The depth of liu- 
man fcience fays. It is not in me : and thefea, with all the 
moft improved countries that lie upon it, muPc fay. It is 
Hot ivith me (3) : for eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, neither 
hath it entered into the heart of man, the things zuhich God 
hath prepared for them that love him (4). , There were no 
principles on which to proceed, in the inrefligation cf 
this important knowledge : none could ever have learn- 
ed, that God had formed counfels of mercy and peace 
towards apoftate creatures : none could ever, on natural 
principles, have difcovered the very exiftence of the Son 
and the Spirit. How much lefs then could they have 
known, or imagined, that the Son of God fhould have 
undertaken to redeem us with his own precious blood; 
Tind the Spirit be fent to manage affairs, as the great 
agent of the Redeemer's kingdom ; in confequence of 
.whofe gracious acls and influences the foul fhould be fav- 
ingly renewed and transformed, and then carried on with 
a growing pace in the way to heaven, till it v>'as receiv- 
ed to the feparate (late of holy and triumphant fpirits at 
death, and to complete glory at the refurredlion cf the 
dead ? All the men upon earth could never, by their 
own natural fagacity, have difcovered any of thefe par- 
ticulars ; how much lefs then could the v/hole lyitem 
have been difcovered ? — but God himfelf has gracioufly 
revealed them by his Spirit (5) : and as he was pleafed 
miraculoufly to interpofe to give this revelation to the 
world; fo he has interpofed by remarkable providences 
to fend to us fuch clear notices of it ; and to fend thefe 
notices fo early too, as to throw the prejudice of educa- 
tion among us this way, rather than the contrary. And 
confidering how powerful thofe prejudices are, and how 
many have fallen into ruin by them, this will appear no 
fmall matter to a confiderate perfon ; efpecially when 
he furveys the ftate of the world in general, and confid- 
- ■ ow few nations and countries there are in which 
s the cafe ; and iii what various forms of m. oft per* 

Job xxviii. 12. (2) Verl'e 7. (3) Verfe 13, 14, 

Cor. ii. 9. (5) Verfe 10, 

w 



25 SERMON II. 

nicious and definitive errors the generality of mankind 
are trained up from their tenderetl infancy. — I would 
conclude tliis head with obferving, that « whatever par- 
ticular advantages we have enjoyed, they are all to be 
traced up to the diftinguiihing goodnefs of God to us/' 
If wife and pious parents, if fkilful, zealous, and faithful 
miniilers, have been the inftruments of working faith in 
our fouls, this a{fo cometh forth from the Lord of Hofis : 
who taught their minds to conceive, and their lips to 
fpeak, and who opened our hearts to receive inilruction. * 
And this leads me to add, 

2. That as God reveals the great obje(fls of faith, fo 
^* it is he alfo that inclines the mind to attend to them ;'* 
on which account faith may be further faid to be the gift 
of God* 

The great objefbs of faith are, and by their nature 
muft be, to us invifible ; while thofe of fenfe ftrike fo 
ftrongly on the mind, that it is no wonder we are apt 
often to forget the other. And w-hen a man is confcious 
to hlmfelf that the firft recolle6lion and acquaintance 
u^ith them muil be painful, and mull: be attended with 
remorfe and fear, how neceffary foever that pain may be, 
it is too natural to draw back from it. And w^e may 
eafily conceive that Satan, the great enemy of men's 
eternal happinefs, will exert all his artifices to prejudice 
them againil it, and to divert them, from it. 

Accordingly I make no doubt but that m.any of you, 
and efpecially young perfons, have experienced this. 
You have found, that when you firft began to be fenfible 
you were in a loft and miferable ftate ; when you began 
firft to hearken to the tidings of deliverance by Chrift^ 
and to inquire into tlie way of falvation exhibited in the 
gofpel ; m^any circumftances arofe to take off your atten- 
tion from them. You found Satan endeavouring to 
fteal avv'ay the good ittdi out of your hearts^ left you fi:culd 
Iclkve arrd he fa-ved : and joining the efforts of vari- 
ous of his inftruments, to allure, or to terrify you from 
religion. To v;hat then will you afcribe it, that you 
have been able to break through all tliefe fnares ? To 
what will you afcribe it, that when you had perhaps la- 
boured to ftifie convidions in your own hearts, they have 
returned upon you with greater power than before i and 



SALVATION BY GRACE. ILJ 

though you have endeavoured all you could to falft 
them off, yet you have found them every where pur- 
liiing you ;' keeping your eyes from fleep during the 
watches of the night, or breaking in upon you in the 
morning with the returning light ; or following you per- 
haps into thofe fcenes of bufinefs, or of vain converfa- 
tion, to which you have fled as a refuge from them ? 
You muH: undoubtedly afcrihe it to the God of the f pints 
ofallfejh, that you have thus been taught to confider your 
<ways ; and that your fpirits have been fo deeply im- 
preifed with concerns which multitudes, whom the 
world reckons among the wife ft of mankind, are entirely 
thoughtlefs about, and which, perhaps, you jourfelves 
were once among the firft to defpife. 

3. Faith may be further called the gift of God^ as " It is 
he that conquers the natural averfion which there is In 
men's hearts to the gofpel method of falvation^ when it 
comes to be underllood and apprehended." 

That method is fo wife, fo rational, and fo gracious, 
that one would imagine every reafonable creature fhculd 
embrace it with delight. Yet the degenerate heart of 
man draws its ftrongeft objections againft it^ from thofe 
things which are really its greateft glory. 

It is the v/ay of humility, and of holinefs : and a 
haughty and licentious heart rifes againft it In each of 
thefe views. To be ftripped of all the pride of human 
nature, to ftand gailty and helplefs before God, and in 
an entire renunciation of all felf-dependence, to feek 
righteoufnefs and ftrength in another, is, to fpirits natur- 
ally fo arrogant as ours, a hard faying fcarcely to be 
borne : to give up our own wills, to be checked and con- 
trolled in all things by the divine authority, to engage In 
an habitual courfe of felf-denial, to crucify theftejh ^wtth its 
ciffe&ions and lufls^ is hard indeed. No wonder, there- 
fore, if we are taught in Scripture to acknowledge the 
agency and interpofition of a Divine hand, when this 
is wrought in us ; when we not only feel fome tendency 
-^ ^-.iil tovs^ards it, fome tranfient and inefte(5lual purpofe, 
a permanent principle of this kind is implanted 
earts, fo that our lives are^ governed by it. 
e Scripture fpeaks of thofe to whom it Is given, 



20 SERMON II. 

not merely to hear of Chrift, but to believe hi him ( i ) ; 
and pathetically defcribes the exceeding greatnefs ofhispoiver 
to ns'zuard ^ujIjo believe ^ as an energy of mighty po^juer^ like that 
^-vhkh lur ought in Chrifi, <when God raifed him from the dead{ 2 ) r 
when he lay a cold corpfe in the grave, his blood drained 
out, and his fide pierced to the very heart, think of that 
mighty energy v/hich then re-animated your Lord ; and 
you fee an emblem of that which raifes us to a divine life, 
and enables us to ad: that life in faith on a crucified and a 
rifen Redeem.er. Thus, as it is faid in one place, that God 
gave to the Gentlhs repentance unto life ; it is alfo faid in 
another, that he purified their hearts by faith ; plainly imply- 
ing, that there is in both an interpofition of Divine power. 
Now, certainly, if he implants this principle in our hearts, 
that frilyation, vvhich he has ccnneaed with it, muft be en- 
tirely of grace : which will further appear, if we confider, 

4. That ** it is God who carries on this bleffed work, 
and maintains this divine principle/' 

It is through miuch tribulation and danger, through 
much oppcfition and ditnculty, that the Chriftian muj 
enter into the kingdom of Gcd (^3). When he begins to fet 
fail heaven-ward, the prince of the poiver of the air endeav- 
ours to raife thofejtcrms^ which ihall, if poffible, oblige him 
to mahejh'pwreck of faith, and of a good confcience (4) : 
neverthelefs he muft endure to the end, or he cannot bs 
fvvfd (5). And how is he enabled thus to perfevere ? 
Surely it is through the continued communications of 
Divine grace to him ; or as the Apoille with admirable 
propriety expreffes it, he obtains mercy of the Lord to be 
faithfid (6), It is by this means that he obtains the vic- 
tory : and while he overcomes the world, and conquers 
the remaining corruptions of his heart, he muft ftill hum- 
bly own, that in the one and the other inftance he is more 
than a conqueror through him that loved him (7). In fhort, 
he will be ready to acknovs'ledge, that having obtained hel<f 
of God i he continues to this day (8) : and will mark out, as 
it were, the feveral ftages of his journey, by ereding at 
the end of each a ftone of remembrance and thankfulnefsj 
^wd faylngy Hitherto the Lcrd has helped me (9). 

(i) Phil. i. 29. (2) Eph, i. 19, ^o. (3) A<5^s xiv, 22. 

(4) I Tim. i. 19. (j) Matt. xxiv. 13. (6) i Cor. vii. 25, 

(7) Rom. viii. 3 7. (8) Acts xxvi. %%. (9} i Sam. vii. la. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 2^ 

And now, my friends, you may fee the evidence of 
this great truth, that by grace <we are /aved through faith <, 
appearing in its complete light : and permit me once 
more to repeat the fummary of the whole argument, that 
it may be more deeply, and more diftin<5Uy, impreffed 
upon your minds. — How much foever faith may be fup- 
pofed to be our own unaffifted act, fo far as the ad of any 
creature is unaffifted, it could make no atonement to the 
injured juftice of God, and much lefs confer any obliga- 
tion upon him to beftow on us eternal life ;— nor had 
there been any room to mention it at all in the whole af- 
fair, if God had not contrived fuch a method of falva- 
tion, and done that to eifed it, which none but himfelf 
could do : — much more will it appear to be of grace, 
v/hen we add, that faith itfelf is the gift of God, — -as he 
reveals the great objeds of it ; — as he brings the mind to 
attend to them ; as he conquers the natural averfion of 
the heart to the gofpel method of falvation ; — and car- 
ries on the work of faith in the foul, till it ends in com- 
plete falvation. It now remains, 

IV« That I conclude v/Ith fome obvious, but ufeful, 
inferences from the whole. 

And here now, if it is hy grace that w^ arefaved through 
faithy then certainly we may infer from hence, — that we 
have no reafon to glory,— but fhould be thankful for 
the grace by which we are faved ; — that we muft 
wholly be without excufe, if we neglect this method 
of falvation ; — that we fhould labour therefore that our 
faith may be increafed and ftrengthened ;— that even the 
weakeft have encouragement to feek, and to hope for fal- 
vation in this way : — and finally, that we fhould take 
great heed that we do not bring a reproach upon this 
dodlrine, by an irregular and licentious behaviour. 

I. \i lue are faved by grace through faith ^ then it is cer- 
tain that " we have no reafon to glory.^' 

If it were poffible a perfon fhould perform the mofl 
complete and perfecft obedience, and fo were juftiiied by 
works, it Is but only in a limited fenfe he would have any 
thing of which to glory before God ; fince even he mu/l 
acknowledge, that it is God who works in him. both to ^ilL 
W 2 



30 SERMON IL 

and to do, and hj his gracious influences renders him 
capable of both : however he, in fuch a cafe, may in fom-^ 
nieafure glory, that he has done his belt, and that his be- 
haviour has all that merit, or all that excellence, which 
the behaviour of a creature in his circumflances could pof* 
fibly have. But wdien the ungodly are jujilfied^ ( Rom. i v. 5. ) 
when we who have been tranfgrelTors in ten thoufand ag- 
gravated inftances, tlxz favedhy grace through faith, of what 
ihall we glory l Shall any of us glory that we are faved 
by another, when even our receiving that other is what 
God hath brought us to, by the renev/ing and fandifying 
influences of his grace upon our hearts ? When we had 
corrupted and undone ourfelves, and were under a fen- 
tence of condemnation and wrath, we have embraced 
rht Gofpel, that is, we have accepted the riches of the 
Divine liberality and goodnefs exhibited in it : but fhall 
a beggar glory in having ftretched out his hand to re- 
ceive an alms ? Efpecially if it were given him by a gen- 
erous and ikilful phyiician, who before he beftowed that 
alms, had cured him of a difeafe, by w^hich that very 
hand now ftretched out to him, had been benum.bed and 
difabled ? Let us rather enter into that juil and amiable 
reafoning of the Apoflie Paul, and fay as he does, ofhirriy 
i. e. of (3od, are ^a>e 'in Chr'iji Jefas, ivho of God Is made un- 
to us vnfdom, and right ecufnefs, and f and if cation, and redemp^ 
t'lon : let nofefi therefore glory m hh prefence ; but he that> 
glories, let him glory In the Lord, And this leads me to infer^. 

2, " Th^t we have a great deal of reafon to be^ thank- 
fii], and to adore tlie grace by which we are faved.'' 

If it is God who C07n?7mndt'th the light tofoine out of dark- 
7iefs that hasfbined in our hearts^ to give us the light of the. 
knowledge of the glory of Gcd in ths face of Jefus Chrlfl^ 
let us blefs the Lord who has lliewed us this light, and. 
v,4th a cheerful gratitude let us bind the facrifce, as it 
v/ere, with cords unto the herns of the altar. Let us 
hkfi the God and Father of our Lord Jfus Chrfl, the Father 
af mercies, and the Gulof ail comfort, ^vho has hlcjfed us 
with atlfpiritual Mffmgs in heavenly things in Chnfl^ : accor- 
ding as he has chofen us m him before the foundation of tr 
world, that wefl.wuldbe holy and without blame before^ him r 
ue. I would call upon you this day to do it y t 



SALVATION BY GRACE* 3 1 

joiii with me, and v/lth each other, lii It. Praife the Lord 
all ye his faints ; be thankful unto 4nm, and hlefs his name ( i ) ! 
Praife him, who gracioufly purpofed your fahatlon, and 
predeflinated you to the adoption of children by jfefus Chrijl un* 
to himfelf ( 2 ) ! Praife him, who rendered this purpofe ef- 
fedlual, and wrought it out by a high hand atid outfiretched 
arm I Praife him, who gave his own Son 10 be 'Afacrif.ce 
for you, and to bring in everlajling righteoufnefs ( 3 ) I Praife 
him, who fent his Spirit, as the great agent in his Son's 
kingdom, to bring the hearts of finners to a fubjedlion to 
the Gofpel, and gently to captivate them to the obedience 
of faith I Praife him, who has revealed this glorious Gof- 
pel to you at fo great a diftance of time and place ! Praife 
him, who has imprefled your hearts with a difpofition to 
regard it ! Praife him, w^io has fubdued your prejudices 
againfb it 1 Praife him, who, having implanted faith in 
your fouls, continues even to this day to animate and fup- 
port it i — Let all ranks and ages join in this cheerful 
fong ! Praife ye the Lord, you that are rich in temporal 
poffeffions, if you have been enabled to renounce the 
w^orld as your portion, and to triumph over it by this 
Divine principle ! Praife him, you that are poor in this 
*world, if you are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom fivhich 
God has promifed to them that love him (4)! Praife him, 
you that are cheerful and vigorous, and capable of ren- 
dering him that adive fervice which may fpeak the grat- 
itude of your hearts towards him ! Praife him, you 
that are weak and languifhing, fmce his flrength is made 
perfeB in your nveaknefs (5), and your infirmities illuf- 
trate the force of that faith which he has wrought in you ! 
Praife him, ye youths, who with this guide and compan- 
ion of your way, are fetting forth in the journey of life 
with courage, and lifting up your feet in his paths? 
Praife him, ye aged faints, who ftand on the borders of , 
eternity, and live in a daily expedation that you ftall 
receive the end of your faith, even thefalvation of your fouls (6) , 
— Begin that work now, in which you are all fo foon to 
join ! Break forth into one joyful anthem, and fmgj, 
'^ Not unio usy Lord^ not unto vs (7), btit to thy name bs 

Pfal c. 4. (2)Eph. i. 5. (3) Dan. ix. !24, 

-^^' li- 5. (j) % Cor, xii. 9, (6) i Pet. i. 9. 

ul. cxv, z. 



31 SERMON n. 

all the praife of that falvation^ which thou haft already 
begun in our fouls, and which thy faithfulnefs has engage 
ed to complete." Again, 

3. \i <we are failed by grace through faith, then certainly, 
" they who neglect fuch a method of falvation, are high- 
ly inexcufable.'' 

To be not only delivered from everlafting condemna- 
tion and ruin, but raifed to the prefence and enjoyment 
of God above, is fo glorious an exchange, fo important 
a prize, that it would be worth while to fecure it at 
any imaginable rate, whatever was to be refigned, what- 
ever to be endured, for it. But it is certain, that the 
more gracious the propofal and offer is, the bafer and 
more criminal will the refufal be. Had fome hard mat- 
ter been propofed, Jhould we not have done it ? and 
how much rather, when the Divine oracle only fays, Wajh 
and be clean (i) P Believe in the Lord Jefus Chrijl, and thou 
Jhalt befaved (2). — To you^ my brethren, even to all that 
hear me this day, is the word of this falvation fent, and 
brought (3). Let me addrefs you, therefore, in the 
language of the Apoftle, and fay, Tale heed that you re* 
ceive not the grace of God in vain : and let me add, Behold^ 
now is the accepted time : behold, now is the day of falva^ 
ihn (4). Dare not to trifle in a bufmefs of fuch confe- 
quence ; left if you fhould negle(5t it even till to-morrow, 
there fhould be no room to repeat that declaration then. 
That God fhould ever offer falvation at all, and efpecial- 
ly in fuch a method, is aftonlftiing condefcenfion and 
love ; and every inftance in which that offer is renewed, 
IS a renewed miracle of mercy. But the day of the Di- 
vine pai-ience has its limits ; and if you trifle beyond 
thofe llm'ts, and know not that the goodnefs and longfuffering 
of God leads to repentance, this injured mercy will plead 
again ft you, and it will appear you have treafured up to 
yourf elves wrath againjl the day of wrath and revelation of the 
rtghieous judgment of God ( 5 ) . 

4. If we are fived through faith, then furely we fhould 
•'labour, that this bleifed principle may be ftrengthened 
in our fouls.^* 

(i) a Kings V. 13. (2) ASis xvi. 31. (3) Ads xiii. %S* 

(4) a Gor. vi. I, 2. (5) Rom ii. 4, 5. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 33 

The greater evidence we have of the fmcerity of our 
faith, the greater affurance may we juftly have of our in- 
tereft in the Gofpel falvation ; and the ftronger our 
faith is, the clearer wiU the evidence of its truth be* 
Let us therefore emulate the character of our father 
Abraham, and make it our care, like him, to htjlrong in 
falthi thereby giving glory to GocL — To this purpofe let 
me addrefs you, my Chriftian brethren, to be diligent 
and ferious in attending the ordinances of Divine inftitu- 
tion, and efpecially that of hearing the word ; for as the 
Apoftle obferves,y^ir/> eomes by hearings and hearing by the 
word of God. And it is certain, the better we are ac- 
quainted v/ith the M^ord of God, the more (hall we 
trace of its evidence ; and it is probable we fhali alfo feel 
fo much the more of its energy, awaking and confirming 
thofe internal a<5ls of faith, which it is our duty with in- 
creafing vigour daily to renew : and I doubt not but the 
experience of many that hear me attefts the reafonable- 
nefs of this addrefs. — Let me alfo exhort you to feek af- 
ter greater ftrength of faith by fervent application to 
God in prayer ; as the difciples that came unto J ejus ^ and 
faidy Lordy increafe our faith* Plead that your faith^ in 
its original, and in its progrefs, is the work of God j and 
earneftly entreat that his work may he perfected. — And 
to add efficacy to all, labour to the utmoft to bring 
forth the genuine fruits of true faith, in all the branches 
of holy temper and exemplary life. Thus fhew to all 
that are about you your faith by your works ; walking 
ivorthy of the vocation wherewith you are called^ worthy of 
him that has called you to his kingdom and glory. For in 
proportion to the degree with which thefe fruits ap- 
pear, it will be evident there is life at the root : and you 
will find, that as the vigour of our limbs, fo alfo that of 
our virtues and graces, will grow by ufe and exercife. 
And in this view let me obferve, 

5. That if we arefaved by grace through faithy then ** there 
IS encouragement even for the weakeft foul, to feek after 
this Gofpel falvation, and to hope it fhall obtain it.'' 

Give me leave here to addrefs myfelf to thofe whofe 
hearts are impreffed with their eternal concerns, but then 
feel their own manifold weaknefs, and perha|>s may be 
difcouraged (as young perfons very frequently are) with 



34 SERMON IT. 

obierving the difficulty of religion. M7 brethren, if 
your hopes of j unification were hy the -zucris of ths Id^jj^ 
whetlier the ceremonial or the moral law, thefe difcour- 
agements were juft : fmce were all the fms of your form- 
er life forgiven upon your return to God, yet through 
the infirmities of human nature, and tlie temptations or 
lite, ye would no dcubt quickly fall into fome new traiif- 
greifion ; and this one, even the leail, would be fufficierit 
to ruin you, and to bring you into condem.nation again. 
But the right ecujnefs of faith fpeaks an eafier and more gra- 
cious language, where it fays, BsUevs In the Lord J^fus 
Chrfl, end thou [halt he faved. You know of whom it 
was laid, A hrufd ned --jlhII he net break, end fmoahng fa:^ 
loill he not quench : why ihould you not then enter in- 
to a treaty with fo miild, fo gracious, fo compaiHonate a. 
Saviour] Nay, I will add. Why fhould you not be 
faved by hinn. I Are you willing to accept his grace ? 
Methinks I hce^f one and another reply, ^ Wliat do I 
delire fo much 05 to accept it r Feeble and guihy as I 
am, I would at ieuft bcw as low as any of thy fervants, 
in a thankful acknowleQc;ment of the riches and freedom 
of thy grace ; and I w.^ild afcribe my falvation to it in 
as entire a renunciation cf all felf-dep end ence, as any 
of them all ihould do.'^ And when I ail: (as it is necef- 
fary I ihould aik) Are you alio willing to bow to his 
yoke r I periuade myfelt there are thofe cf you whcfe 
confcience anfwers, " Lord, I would take it upon me, 
with a moil thankful confent : I defire notliing fo much 
as to ferve thee ; but I fufpect this treacherous and in- 
coniiant heart, that is {o ready to fcilake thee." My 
brethren, this defire cf ferving him, if you know what 
you fay when you exprefs it, is the effect cf his grace ; 
and it is a comifor table token that he *w'di ghe more grace. 
Set yourfelves, therefore, with a cheerful ccurage, to op- 
pofe thofe dialculties that lie in the way, and to 'u.^crh out 
your oivn fal'vathn wi:h hope and joy, as well as -ivUh far 
Qnd tremlling : for It is God thai even now/j iL^orklng in you, 
both to 'Will, and to do^ of his good pleafure ; and you 
have abundant reafon to hope he 'zvill not forfahe the ivcrk 
cf his ozun hands, 

6. If the doSrins of falvation hy grace through faith be : 
divine and important as we have heard, then *' let - 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 35 

take great heed that we do not bring a reproach upon it 
by an irregular and licentious behaviour." 

Let the holy Apoftle, who is the great aflerter of this 
dod^rine, be heard as the guardian of its honour, when 
he fays, Shall nve continue in fitly that grace may abound P God 
forbid ! You plainly fee, that this do<frrine, when 
fcripturally explained as above, gives no rational foun- 
dation, no, nor even any plaufible excufe, for fuch an in- 
ference, however the corruption of men's hearts may 
take occafion from it. And it would be far more rea- 
fonable, and much lefs detrimental to mankind, to endea- 
vour to root up all the vines in the W'orld, and deftroy 
all the animals intended for food, becaufe wine and flefli 
are fometimes the occalions and inftruments of luxurious 
riot ; than to deny this important do(5trine, becaufe it 
may be perverted to purpofes unfriendly to pra(5lical re- 
ligion. But fee you to it, my friends, that you, if you are 
perfuaded this is the dodrine of God, behare in fuch a 
manner, as to ihew that you perceive it to be, what in- 
deed it is, a dodrins according to godlinefs, JVo to that 
mauy by ^whorn^ in this inftance, the offence comes ! It had 
heen better for him ^ that a milljlone ^ujere hanged about his necky 
^nd that he nvere droivned in the depth of the fea^ than 
that he fiiould occafion fuch diihonour to God, and bring 
fuch a reproach upon his truths and his ways. And 
give me leave to fay, there is hardly any confideration 
in the world that fhould cut deeper into the heart of the 
traly good man, of one w^io has tafed that the Lord Is gra- 
cious^ and has believed through grace^ than the re- 
Jfledions of having m_ade fuch unworthy and ungrateful 
returns to God, for tliat fmgalar mercy which he has 
obtained from him, in the provifion which the Gofpel 
has made for his faivation, in fo gracious, and fo endear- 
ing a way. 

Let me therefore conclude with charging you, in the 
moft foiemn manner, before God and the Lord jefus 
Chrifl, and by the honour of that Gofpel you i<^ 
ftrenuouily profefs, that you exercife a holy watchfulnefs 
over yourfeives in this refpedl. Confider, my brethren, 
how many eyes are upon you for evil. It is true indeed, 
that charity, that boailed name, that divine principle, 
would teach meii another ieffon ; it would teach them to 



;^6 SERMON. II. 

mourn rather than to triumph over the faults of them that 
call themfelves Chviftians. But there is very little of that 
to be found ; and on the contrary, a great deal of that car- 
nal, fenfual, and diabolical zeal, which rejoices in iniquityy 
and takes the greateft pleafure in the irregularities of thole, 
whofe failings ought mcft to be lamented ; that is, of 
thofe who are moft fignalized by a Chriftian profeffion. 
Remember, therefore, and confider, my friends, that it 
would be far better for you to die, than to lay a ftum- 
bling block in the way of the fouls of men ; and to give 
them any juft caufe for reprefenting the Gofpel as 2idoc^ 
iriiie of llcentioiifrxfsy or fpeaking of Chrl/i as the mini/ier of Jin. 
You folemnly renounce all dependence upon your 
own righteoufiiefs before God ; and in profeffing to do 
it, and to expe6l falvation by his grace alone, you do 
well. But give me leave to fay, that if, in the mean 
time, you yourfelves are found JinnerSy allowing yourfelves 
habitually in any thing contrary to the Divine will, the 
renunciation of fuch a righteoufnefs as is confiftent with 
that, will be a very unworthy kind of facrifice before 
God, and do very little credit to your profeffion before 
men, ' And by thefe declarations, when compared with 
io bad a conduct, you v/ill run a great rifk of bringing 
your religious notions themfelves into difgrace, and will 
probably build again that which 3^ou feem moil folicit- 
ous to deftroy. Let it therefore evidently appear, that 
the grace of God^ ivhich appears unto all men, has efFedtuallj 
taught you to Ifve foberly, righteoujly^ and godly in this prefent 
world. Let the w^hole world about you fee that the 
Divine goodnefs to you, in which you rejoice and glorr, 
has had its efficacy to purify and humanize your hearts, 
to fill them with humility and univerfal love, and to in« 
fpire them with a mod friendly, benevolent, generous care 
for the happinefs of all around you, as well as with a gen- 
erous concern to make your own calling and election fare. 
Nothing will fo powerfully plead for the gofpel, as fuch 
a care to adorn it, and to feek that SALVATION which 
is entirely OF GRACE, through fandifcaiion of the Spirit^ 
as well as the belief of the triith, 

THE END. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
{724)779-2111 



